?t  .    (FU*^ 


vfi~<^ 


[See  p.  5 

HE      SILENTLY      LANDED      WITHIN       REACH       OF      MY 
HAND     .      .      .     AND     PEERED      IN     THROUGH      THE 

OPEN   WINDOW" 


R.  Holmes  &  Co. 


Being   the   Remarkable   Adventures   of 

Raffles  Holmes,  Esq.,  Detective  and 

Amateur  Cracksman  by  Birth 


By 

John  Kendrick  Bangs 


Illustrated  by 
Sydney  Adamson 


New  York  and  London 

Harper  &  Brothers  Publishers 
1906 


Copyright,  1906,  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS. 

All  rights  reserved. 
I ,  blished  June,  1906. 


With  Apologies  to 

Sir  Arthur  Conan  Doyle 

and 

Mr.  E.  W.  Hornung 


. 


M5Q62G4 


Contents 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  INTRODUCING      MR.     RAFFLES 

HOLMES i 

II.  THE    ADVENTURE    OF   THE    DOR- 

RINGTON  RUBY  SEAL    ...       21 

III.  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  MRS.  BURLIN- 

GAME'S  DIAMOND  STOMACHER       46 

IV.  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  THE  MISSING 

PENDANTS 67 

V.  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  THE  BRASS 

CHECK 89 

VI.  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  THE  HIRED 

BURGLAR no 

VII.  THE  REDEMPTION  OF  YOUNG  BILL- 

INGTON  RAND 135 

VIII.  "THE  NOSTALGIA  OF  NERVY  JIM 

THE  SNATCHER 159 

IX.  THE  ADVENTURE  OF  ROOM  407  .      181 

X.  THE  MAJOR-GENERAL'S   PEPPER- 

POTS 207 


Illustrations 


'HE   SILENTLY   LANDED   WITHIN 

REACH  OF  MY  HAND  .  .  .  AND 

PEERED  IN  THROUGH  THE  OPEN 

WINDOW" Frontispiece 

'  '  I'M  A  DANGEROUS  MAN  TO  TRIFLE 

WITH,  MR.  HOLMES,'  HE    SAID"          Facing  p.    42 

"THAT  NIGHT  i  RIFLED  THE  NEW 
PORT  SAFE  OF  THE  STOMACHER'"  "  60 

'  '  WE  CAUGHT  HIM  FISHING  FOR 
THEM'" "  86 

'l  RUSHED  AFTER  HIM  AND  FORCED 
HIM  BACK" 100 

'  '  I  SENT  THE  VALET  HOWLING  INTO 
THE  DINING-ROOM  .  .  .  AND  HAD 
THE  PLEASURE  OF  BLACKING 
BOTH  OF  MR.  BLANK'S  EYES'"  .  "  128 


R.   Holmes    &   Co. 


R.   Holmes    &   Co. 


INTRODUCING     MR.     RAFFLES     HOLMES 

IT  was  a  blistering  night  in  August. 
All  day  long  the  mercury  in  the 
thermometer  had  been  flirting  with 
the  figures  at  the  top  of  the  tube, 
and  the  promised  shower  at  night 
which  a  mendacious  Weather  Bureau 
had  been  prophesying  as  a  slight 
mitigation  of  our  sufferings  was  con 
spicuous  wholly  by  its  absence.  I 
had  but  one  comfort  in  the  swelter 
ing  hours  of  the  day,  afternoon  and 
evening,  and  that  was  that  my 
family  were  away  in  the  mountains, 
and  there  was  no  law  against  my 
i 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

sitting  around  all  day  clad  only  in 
my  pajamas,  and  otherwise  concealed 
from  possibly  intruding  eyes  by  the 
wreaths  of  smoke  that  I  extracted 
from  the  nineteen  or  twenty  cigars 
which,  when  there  is  no  protesting 
eye  to  suggest  otherwise,  form  my 
daily  allowance.  I  had  tried  every 
method  known  to  the  resourceful 
flat-dweller  of  modern  times  to  get 
cool  and  to  stay  so,  but,  alas!  it 
was  impossible.  Even  the  radiators, 
which  all  winter  long  had  never  once 
given  forth  a  spark  of  heat,  now 
hissed  to  the  touch  of  my  moistened 
finger.  Enough  cooling  drinks  to 
float  an  ocean  greyhound  had  passed 
into  my  inner  man,  with  no  other 
result  than  to  make  me  perspire  more 
profusely  than  ever,  and  in  so  far  as 
sensations  went,  to  make  me  feel 
hotter  than  before.  Finally,  as  a 
last  resource,  along  about  midnight, 
its  gridiron  floor  having  had  a  chance 
to  lose  some  of  its  stored-up  warmth, 
2 


Mr.   Raffles    Holmes 

I  climbed  out  upon  the  fire-escape  at 
the  rear  of  the  Richmere,  hitched  my 
hammock  from  one  of  the  railings 
thereof  to  the  leader  running  from 
the  roof  to  the  area,  and  swung  my 
self  therein  some  eighty  feet  above 
the  concreted  pavement  of  our  back 
yard — so  called,  perhaps,  because  of 
its  dimensions  which  were  just  about 
that  square.  It  was  a  little  improve 
ment,  though  nothing  to  brag  of. 
What  fitful  zephyrs  there  might  be, 
caused  no  doubt  by  the  rapid  pas 
sage  to  and  fro  on  the  roof  above 
and  fence  -  tops  below  of  vagrom 
felines  on  Cupid's  contentious  battles 
bent,  to  the  disturbance  of  the  still 
air,  soughed  softly  through  the  mesh 
es  of  my  hammock  and  gave  some 
measure  of  relief,  grateful  enough 
for  which  I  ceased  the  perfervid 
language  I  had  been  using  prac 
tically  since  sunrise,  and  dozed 
off.  And  then  there  entered  upon 
the  scene  that  marvellous  man, 
3 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

Raffles  Holmes,  of  whose  exploits  it 
is  the  purpose  of  these  papers  to 
tell. 

I  had  dozed  perhaps  for  a  full  hour 
when  the  first  strange  sounds  grated 
upon  my  ear.  Somebody  had  open 
ed  a  window  in  the  kitchen  of  the 
first-floor  apartment  below,  and  with 
a  dark  lantern  was  inspecting  the  iron 
platform  of  the  fire-escape  without. 
A  moment  later  this  somebody  crawl 
ed  out  of  the  window,  and  with  move 
ments  that  in  themselves  were  a 
sufficient  indication  of  the  question 
able  character  of  his  proceedings, 
made  for  the  ladder  leading  to  the 
floor  above,  upon  which  many  a  time 
and  oft  had  I  too  climbed  to  home 
and  safety  when  an  inconsiderate 
janitor  had  locked  me  out.  Every 
step  that  he  took  was  stealthy — that 
much  I  could  see  by  the  dim  star 
light.  His  lantern  he  had  turned 
dark  again,  evidently  lest  he  should 
attract  attention  in  the  apartments 
4 


Mr.   Raffles    Holmes 

below  as  he  passed  their  windows  in 
his  upward  flight. 

"Ha!  ha!"  thought  I  to  myself. 
"It's  never  too  hot  for  Mr.  Sneak  to 
get  in  his  fine  work.,  I  wonder  whose 
stuff  he  is  after?" 

Turning  over  flat  on  my  stomach 
so  that  I  might  the  more  readily 
observe  the  man's  movements,  and 
breathing  pianissimo  lest  he  in  turn 
should  observe  mine,  I  watched  him 
as  he  climbed.  Up  he  came  as 
silently  as  the  midnight  mouse  upon 
a  soft  carpet — up  past  the  Jorkins 
apartments  on  the  second  floor;  up 
stealthily  by  the  Tinkletons'  abode 
on  the  third;  up  past  the  fire-escape 
Italian  garden  of  little  Mrs.  Persim 
mon  on  the  fourth;  up  past  the 
windows  of  the  disagreeable  Garra- 
ways'  kitchen  below  mine,  and  then, 
with  the  easy  grace  of  a  feline,  zip! 
he  silently  landed  within  reach  of  my 
hand  on  my  own  little  iron  veranda, 
and  craning  his  neck  to  one  side 
5 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

peered  in  through  the  open  window 
and  listened  intently  for  two  full 
minutes. 

"Humph!"  whispered  my  inner 
consciousness  to  itself.  "He  is  the 
coolest  thing  I've  seen  since  last 
Christmas  left  town.  I  wonder  what 
he  is  up  to?  There's  nothing  in  my 
apartment  worth  stealing,  now  that 
my  wife  and  children  are  away,  un 
less  it  be  my  Jap  valet,  Nogi,  who 
might  make  a  very  excellent  cab- 
driver  if  I  could  only  find  words  to 
convey  to  his  mind  the  idea  that  he 
is  discharged." 

And  then  the  visitor,  apparently 
having  correctly  assured  himself  that 
there  was  no  one  within,  stepped 
across  the  window-sill  and  vanished 
into  the  darkness  of  my  kitchen.  A 
moment  later  I  too  entered  the  win 
dow  in  pursuit,  not  so  close  a  one, 
however,  as  to  acquaint  him  with  my 
proximity.  I  wanted  to  see  what  the 
chap  was  up  to;  and  also  being 
6 


Mr.   Raffles    Holmes 

totally  unarmed  and  ignorant  as  to 
whether  or  not  he  carried  dangerous 
weapons,  I  determined  to  go  slow  for 
a  little  while.  Moreover,  the  situa 
tion  was  not  wholly  devoid  of  novelty, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  that  here  at  last 
was  abundant  opportunity  for  a  new 
sensation.  As  he  had  entered,  so  did 
he  walk  cautiously  along  the  narrow 
bowling-alley  that  serves  for  a  hall 
way  connecting  my  drawing  -  room 
and  library  with  the  dining  -  room, 
until  he  came  to  the  library,  into 
which  he  disappeared.  This  was  not 
reassuring  to  me,  because,  to  tell  the 
truth,  I  value  my  books  more  than  I 
do  my  plate,  and  if  I  were  to  be 
robbed  I  should  much  have  preferred 
his  taking  my  plated  plate  from  the 
dining  -  room  than  any  one  of  my 
editions-de-luxe  sets  of  the  works  of 
Marie  Corelli,  Hall  .Caine,  and  other 
standard  authors  from  the  library 
shelves.  Once  in  the  library  he 
quietly  drew  the  shades  at  the  win- 
7 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

dows  thereof  to  bar  possible  intrud 
ing  eyes  from  without,  turned  on  the 
electric  lights,  and  proceeded  to  go 
through  my  papers  as  calmly  and 
coolly  as  though  they  were  his  own. 
In  a  short  time,  apparently,  he  found 
what  he  wanted  in  the  shape  of  a 
royalty  statement  recently  received 
by  me  from  my  publishers,  and, 
lighting  one  of  my  cigars  from  a 
bundle  of  brevas  in  front  of  him, 
took  off  his  coat  and  sat  down  to 
peruse  the  statement  of  my  returns. 
Simple  though  it  was,  this  act  aroused 
the  first  feeling  of  resentment  in  my 
breast,  for  the  relations  between  the 
author  and  his  publishers  are  among 
the  most  sacred  confidences  of  life, 
and  the  peeping  Tom  who  peers 
through  a  key -hole  at  the  courtship 
of  a  young  man  engaged  in  wooing 
his  fiancee  is  no  worse  an  intruder 
than  he  who  would  tear  aside  the 
veil  of  secrecy  which  screens  the 
official  returns  of  a  "best  seller" 
8 


Mr.   Raffles    Holmes 

from  the  public  eye.  Feeling,  there 
fore,  that  I  had  permitted  matters  to 
proceed  as  far  as  they  might  with 
propriety,  I  instantly  entered  the 
room  and  confronted  my  uninvited 
guest,  bracing  myself,  of  course,  for 
the  defensive  onslaught  which  I 
naturally  expected  to  sustain.  But 
nothing  of  the  sort  occurred,  for  the 
intruder,  with  a  composure  that  was 
nothing  short  of  marvellous  under 
the  circumstances,  instead  of  rising 
hurriedly  like  one  caught  in  some 
disreputable  act,  merely  leaned  far 
ther  back  in  the  chair,  took  the  cigar 
from  his  mouth,  and  greeted  me  with : 

"  Howdy  do,  sir.  What  can  I  do 
for  you  this  beastly  hot  night?" 

The  cold  rim  of  a  revolver-barrel 
placed  at  my  temple  could  not  more 
effectually  have  put  me  out  of  busi 
ness  than  this  nonchalant  reception. 
Consequently  I  gasped  out  something 
about  its  being  the  sultriest  47th  of 
August  in  eighteen  years,  and  plump- 
9 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

ed  back  into  a  chair  opposite  him. 
"  I  wouldn't  mind  a  Remsen  cooler 
myself,"  he  went  on,  "but  the  fact  is 
your  butler  is  off  for  to-night,  and 
I'm  hanged  if  I  can  find  a  lemon  in 
the  house.  Maybe  you'll  join  me  in 
a  smoke?"  he  added,  shoving  my 
own  bundle  of  brevas  across  the  table. 
"Help  yourself." 

"  I  guess  I  know  where  the  lemons 
are,"  said  I.  "But  how  did  you 
know  my  butler  was  out?" 

"  I  telephoned  him  to  go  to  Phila 
delphia  this  afternoon  to  see  his 
brother  Yoku,  who  is  ill  there,"  said 
my  visitor.  "  You  see,  I  didn't  want 
him  around  to-night  when  I  called. 
I  knew  I  could  manage  you  alone  in 
case  you  turned  up,  as  you  see  you 
have,  but  two  of  you,  and  one  a  Jap, 
I  was  afraid  might  involve  us  all  in 
ugly  complications.  Between  you 
and  me,  Jenkins,  these  Orientals  are 
pretty  lively  fighters,  and  your  man 
Nogi  particularly  has  got  jiu  -  jitsu 
10 


Mr.   Raffles    Holmes 

down  to  a  pretty  fine  point,  so  I  had 
to  do  something  to  get  rid  of  him. 
Our  arrangement  is  a  matter  for  two, 
not  three,  anyhow." 

"So,"  said  I,  coldly.  "You  and  I 
have  an  arrangement,  have  we?  I 
wasn't  aware  of  it." 

"Not  yet,"  he  answered.  "But 
there's  a  chance  that  we  may  have. 
If  I  can  only  satisfy  myself  that  you 
are  the  man  I'm  looking  for,  there  is 
no  earthly  reason  that  I  can  see  why 
we  should  not  come  to  terms.  Go 
on  out  and  get  the  lemons  and  the 
gin  and  soda,  and  let's  talk  this  thing 
over  man  to  man  like  a  couple  of  good 
fellows  at  the  club.  I  mean  you  no 
harm,  and  you  certainly  don't  wish 
to  do  any  kind  of  injury  to  a  chap 
who,  even  though  appearances  are 
against  him,  really  means  to  do  you 
a  good  turn." 

"  Appearances  certainly  are  against 
you,  sir,"  said  I,  a  trifle  warmly,  for 
the  man's  composure  was  irritating. 
ii 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

"  A  disappearance  would  be  more  like 
ly  to  do  you  credit  at  this  moment," 
"Tush,  Jenkins!"  he  answered. 
"Why  waste  breath  saying  self-evi 
dent  things?  Here  you  are  on  the 
verge  of  a  big  transaction,  and  you 
delay  proceedings  by  making  state 
ments  of  fact,  mixed  in  with  a 
cheap  wit  which,  I  must  confess,  I 
find  surprising,  and  so  obvious  as  to 
be  visible  even  to  the  blind.  You 
don't  talk  like  an  author  whose  stuff 
is  worth  ten  cents  a  word — more  like 
a  penny-a-liner,  in  fact,  with  whom 
words  are  of  such  small  value  that 
no  one's  the  loser  if  he  throws  away 
a  whole  dictionary.  Go  out  and  mix 
a  couple  of  your  best  Remsen  coolers, 
and  by  the  time  you  get  back  I'll 
have  got  to  the  gist  of  this  royalty 
statement  of  yours,  which  is  all  I've 
come  for.  Your  silver  and  books 
and  love-letters  and  manuscripts  are 
safe  from  me.  I  wouldn't  have  'em 
as,  a  gift." 

12 


Mr.  Raffles    Holmes 

"  What  concern  have  you  with  my 
royalties?"  I  demanded. 

"A  vital  one,"  said  he.  "Mix  the 
coolers,  and  when  you  get  back  I'll 
tell  you.  Go  on.  There's  a  good 
chap.  It  '11  be  daylight  before  long, 
and  I  want  to  close  up  this  job  if  I 
can  before  sunrise." 

What  there  was  in  the  man's  man 
ner  to  persuade  me  to  compliance 
with  his  wishes  I  am  sure  I  cannot  say 
definitely.  There  was  a  cold,  steely 
glitter  in  his  eye,  for  one  thing,  that, 
had  I  been  a  timid  man,  I  might  have 
found  compelling  on  this  special  oc 
casion,  but  it  was  this  that  bade  me 
stay  and  fight  him.  With  it,  how 
ever,  was  a  strengthfulness  of  pur 
pose,  a  certain  pleasant  masterfulness, 
that,  on  the  other  hand,  bade  me  feel 
that  I  could  trust  him,  and  it  was  to 
this  aspect  of  his  nature  that  I 
yielded.  There  was  something  frank 
ly  appealing  in  his  long,  thin,  ascetic- 
looking  face,  and  I  found  it  irresistible. 
13 


R.  Holmes  &    Co. 

"All  right,"  said  I,  with  a  smile 
and  a  frown  to  express  the  conflicting 
quality  of  my  emotions.  "So  be  it. 
I'll  get  the  coolers,  but  you  must 
remember,  my  friend,  that  there  are 
coolers  and  coolers,  just  as  there  are 
jugs  and  jugs.  The  kind  of  jug  that 
remains  for  you  will  depend  upon  the 
story  you  have  to  tell  when  I  get 
back,  so  you'd  better  see  that  it's  a 
good  one." 

"  I  am  not  afraid,  Jenkins,  old 
chap,"  he  said,  with  a  hearty  laugh, 
as  I  rose  up.  "  If  this  royalty  state 
ment  can  prove  to  me  that  you  are 
the  literary  partner  I  need  in  my 
business,  I  can  prove  to  you  that  I'm 
a  good  man  to  tie  up  to — so  go  along 
with  you." 

With  this  he  lighted  a  fresh  cigar 
and  turned  to  a  perusal  of  my  state 
ment,  which,  I  am  glad  to  say,  was  a 
good  one,  owing  to  the  great  success 
of  my  book,  Wild  Animals  J  Have 
Never  Met — the  seventh  best  seller 


Mr.   Raffles    Holmes 

at  Rochester,  Watertown,  and  Miami 
in  June  and  July,  1905 — while  I  went 
out  into  the  dining-room  and  mixed 
the  coolers.  As  you  may  imagine,  I 
was  not  long  at  it,  for  my  curiosity 
over  my  visitor  lent  wings  to  my 
corkscrew,  and  in  five  minutes  I  was 
back,  with  the  tempting  beverages  in 
the  tall  glasses,  the  lemon  curl  giving  it 
the  vertebrate  appearance  that  all  stiff 
drinks  should  have,  and  the  ice  tink 
ling  refreshingly  upon  the  sultry  air. 

" There,"  said  I,  placing  his  glass 
before  him.  "  Drink  hearty,  and 
then  to  business.  Who  are  you?" 

" There  is  my  card,"  he  replied, 
swallowing  a  goodly  half  of  the  cooler 
and  smacking  his  lips  appreciatively, 
and  tossing  a  visiting-card  across  to 
me  on  the  other  side  of  the  table.  I 
picked  up  the  card  and  read  as  fol 
lows:  "Mr.  Raffles  Holmes,  London 
and  New  York." 

"  Raffles  Holmes  ?"  I  cried  in  amaze 
ment. 

15 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

"The  same,  Mr.  Jenkins,"  said  he. 
"  I  am  the  son  of  Sherlock  Holmes, 
the  famous  detective,  and  grandson 
of  A.  J.  Raffles,  the  distinguished— 
er — ah — cricketer,  sir." 

I  gazed  at  him,  dumb  with  aston 
ishment. 

"  You've  heard  of  my  father,  Sher 
lock  Holmes?"  asked  my  visitor. 

I  confessed  that  the  name  of  the 
gentleman  was  not  unfamiliar  to  me. 

"And  Mr.  Raffles,  my  grandfa 
ther?"  he  persisted. 

"  If  there  ever  was  a  story  of  that 
fascinating  man  that  I  have  not  read, 
Mr.  Holmes,"  said  I,  "I  beg  you  will 
let  me  have  it." 

"Well,  then,"  said  he,  with  that 
quick,  nervous  manner  which  proved 
him  a  true  son  of  Sherlock  Holmes, 
"did  it  never  occur  to  you  as  an 
extraordinary  happening,  as  you  read 
of  my  father's  wonderful  powers  as 
a  detective,  and  of  Raffles 's  equally 
wonderful  prowess  as  a — er — well,  let 
16 


Mr.   Raffles    Holmes 

us  not  mince  words — as  a  thief,  Mr. 
Jenkins,  the  two  men  operating  in 
England  at  the  same  time,  that  no 
story  ever  appeared  in  which  Sherlock 
Holmes 's  genius  was  pitted  against 
the  subtly  planned  misdeeds  of  Mr. 
Raffles?  Is  it  not  surprising  that 
with  two  such  men  as  they  were, 
working  out  their  destinies  in  almost 
identical  grooves  of  daily  action,  they 
should  never  have  crossed  each  other's 
paths  as  far  as  the  public  is  the  wiser, 
and  in  the  very  nature  of  the  conflict 
ing  interests  of  their  respective  lines 
of  action  as  foemen,  the  one  pursu 
ing,  the  other  pursued,  they  should 
to  the  public's  knowledge  never  have 
clashed?" 

"  Now  that  you  speak  of  it,"  said  I, 
"it  was  rather  extraordinary  that 
nothing  of  the  sort  happened.  One 
would  think  that  the  sufferers  from 
the  depredations  of  Raffles  would 
immediately  have  gone  to  Holmes 
for  assistance  in  bringing  the  other 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

to  justice.  Truly,  as  you  intimate, 
it  was  strange  that  they  never  did." 

''Pardon  me,  Jenkins,"  put  in  my 
visitor.  "  I  never  intimated  anything 
of  the  sort.  What  I  intimated  was 
that  no  story  of  any  such  conflict  ever 
came  to  light.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
Sherlock  Holmes  was  put  upon  a 
Raffles  case  in  1883,  and  while  suc 
cess  attended  upon  every  step  of  it, 
and  my  grandfather  was  run  to  earth 
by  him  as  easily  as  was  ever  any 
other  criminal  in  Holmes 's  grip,  a 
little  naked  god  called  Cupid  stepped 
in,  saved  Raffles  from  jail,  and  wrote 
the  word  failure  across  Holmes 's 
docket  of  the  case.  /,  sir,  am  the 
only  tangible  result  of  Lord  Dorring- 
ton's  retainers  to  Sherlock  Holmes" 

"You  speak  enigmatically,  after 
the  occasional  fashion  of  your  illus 
trious  father,"  said  I.  "The  Dor- 
rington  case  is  unfamiliar  to  me." 

"Naturally  so,"  said  my  vis-a-vis. 
"  Because,  save  to  my  father,  my 
18 


Mr.   Raffles  Holmes 

grandfather,  and  myself,  the  details 
are  unknown  to  anybody.  Not  even 
my  mother  knew  of  the  incident,  and 
as  for  Dr.  Watson  and  Bunny,  the 
scribes  through  whose  industry  the 
adventures  of  those  two  great  men 
were  respectively  narrated  to  an 
absorbed  world,  they  didn't  even 
know  there  had  ever  been  a  Dorring- 
ton  case,  because  Sherlock  Holmes 
never  told  Watson  and  Raffles  never 
told  Bunny.  But  they  both  told 
me,  and  now  that  I  am  satisfied  that 
there  is  a  demand  for  your  books, 
I  am  willing  to  tell  it  to  you  with 
the  understanding  that  we  share  and 
share  alike  in  the  profits  if  perchance 
you  think  well  enough  of  it  to  write 
it  up." 

"Go  on!"  I  said.     "I'll  whack  up 
with  you  square  and  honest." 

"Which  is  more  than  either  Wat 
son    or    Bunny    ever    did    with   my 
father    or    my    grandfather,    else    I 
should  not  be  in  the  business  which 
3  19 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

now  occupies  my  time  and  attention," 
said  Raffles  Holmes,  with  a  cold  snap 
to  his  eyes  which  I  took  as  an  admo 
nition  to  hew  strictly  to  the  line  of 
honor,  or  to  subject  myself  to  terrible 
consequences.  "With  that  under 
standing,  Jenkins,  I'll  tell  you  the 
story  of  the  Dorrington  Ruby  Seal, 
in  which  some  crime,  a  good  deal  of 
romance,  and  my  ancestry  are  in 
volved.'1 


II 


THE   ADVENTURE    OF    THE    DORRING- 
TON    RUBY    SEAL 

"IORD     DORRINGTON,    as    you 

L/may  have  heard,"  said  Raffles 
Holmes,  leaning  back  in  my  easy-chair 
and  gazing  reflectively  up  at  the  ceil 
ing,  "  was  chiefly  famous  in  England 
as  a  sporting  peer.  His  vast  estates, 
in  five  counties,  were  always  open  to 
any  sportsman  of  renown,  or  other 
wise,  as  long  as  he  was  a  true  sports 
man.  So  open,  indeed,  was  the 
house  that  he  kept  that,  whether  he 
was  there  or  not,  little  week-end 
parties  of  members  of  the  sporting 
fraternity  used  to  be  got  up  at  a 
moment's  notice  to  run  down  to  Dor- 
rington  Castle,  Devonshire;  to  Dor- 

21 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

rington  Lodge  on  the  Isle  of  Wight; 
to  Dorrington  Hall,  near  Dublin,  or 
to  any  other  country  place  for  over 
Sunday. 

"Sometimes  there'd  be  a  lot  of 
turf  people;  sometimes  a  dozen  or 
more  devotees  of  the  prize-ring;  not 
infrequently  a  gathering  of  the  best- 
known  cricketers  of  the  time,  among 
whom,  of  course,  my  grandfather,  A. 
J.  Raffles,  was  conspicuous.  For  the 
most  part,  the  cricketers  never  par 
took  of  Dorrington 's  hospitality  save 
when  his  lordship  was  present,  for 
your  cricket-player  is  a  bit  more 
punctilious  in  such  matters  than  your 
turfmen  or  ring-side  habitues.  It  so 
happened  one  year,  however,  that  his 
lordship  was  absent  from  England 
for  the  better  part  of  eight  months, 
and,  when  the  time  came  for  the 
annual  cricket  gathering  at  his  Devon 
shire  place,  he  cabled  his  London 
representative  to  see  to  it  that  every 
thing  was  carried  on  just  as  if  he 
22 


The    Dorrington   Ruby  Seal 

were  present,  and  that  every  one 
should  be  invited  for  the  usual  week's 
play  and  pleasure  at  Dorrington 
Castle.  His  instructions  were  car 
ried  out  to  the  letter,  and,  save  for 
the  fact  that  the  genial  host  was  ab 
sent,  the  house-party  went  through 
to  perfection.  My  grandfather,  as 
usual,  was  the  life  of  the  occasion, 
and  all  went  merry  as  a  marriage-bell. 
Seven  months  later,  Lord  Dorrington 
returned,  and,  a  week  after  that,  the 
loss  of  the  Dorrington  jewels  from  the 
Devonshire  strong-boxes  was  a  mat 
ter  of  common  knowledge.  When, 
or  by  whom,  they  had  been  taken 
was  an  absolute  mystery.  As  far  as 
anybody  could  find  out,  they  might 
have  been  taken  the  night  before  his 
return,  or  the  night  after  his  depart 
ure.  The  only  fact  in  sight  was  that 
they  were  gone — Lady  Dorrington's 
diamonds,  a  half-dozen  valuable  jew 
elled  rings  belonging  to  his  lordship, 
and,  most  irremediable  of  losses,  the 
23 


R.    Holmes   &    Co. 

famous  ruby  seal  which  George  IV. 
had  given  to  Dorrington's  grandfa 
ther,  Sir  Arthur  Deering,  as  a  token 
of  his  personal  esteem  during  the 
period  of  the  Regency.  This  was  a 
flawless  ruby,  valued  at  some  six 
or  seven  thousand  pounds  sterling, 
in  which  had  been  cut  the  Deering 
arms  surrounded  by  a  garter  upon 
which  were  engraved  the  words, 
4  Deering  Ton,'  which  the  family, 
upon  Sir  Arthur's  elevation  to  the 
peerage  in  1836,  took  as  its  title,  or 
Dorrington.  His  lordship  was  al 
most  prostrated  by  the  loss.  The 
diamonds  and  the  rings,  although 
valued  at  thirty  thousand  pounds, 
he  could  easily  replace,  but  the  per 
sonal  associations  of  the  seal  were 
such  that  nothing,  no  amount  of 
money,  could  duplicate  the  lost 
ruby." 

"So  that  his  first  act,"  I  broke  in, 
breathlessly,  "was  to  send  for — " 

"Sherlock  Holmes,  my  father," 
24 


The    Dorrington    Ruby   Seal 

said  Rallies  Holmes.  "  Yes,  Mr.  Jen 
kins,  the  first  thing  Lord  Dorrington 
did  was  to  telegraph  to  London  for 
Sherlock  Holmes,  requesting  him  to 
come  immediately  to  Dorrington  Cas 
tle  and  assume  charge  of  the  case. 
Needless  to  say,  Mr.  Holmes  dropped 
everything  else  and  came.  He  in 
spected  the  gardens,  measured  the 
road  from  the  railway  station  to  the 
castle,  questioned  all  the  servants; 
was  particularly  insistent  upon  know 
ing  where  the  parlor-maid  was  on 
the  1 3th  of  January;  secured  ac 
curate  information  as  to  the  per 
sonal  habits  of  his  lordship's  dachs 
hund  Nicholas;  subjected  the  chef 
to  a  cross-examination  that  covered 
every  point  of  his  life,  from  his  re 
mote  ancestry  to  his  receipt  for 
baking  apples;  gathered  up  three 
suit-cases  of  sweepings  from  his  lord 
ship's  private  apartment,  and  two 
boxes  containing  three  each  of  every 
variety  of  cigars  that  Lord  Dorring- 
25 


R.   Holmes   &   Co. 

ton  had  laid  down  in  his  cellar.  As 
you  are  aware,  Sherlock  Holmes,  in 
his  prime,  was  a  great  master  of 
detail.  He  then  departed  for  Lon 
don,  taking  with  him  an  impression 
in  wax  of  the  missing  seal,  which 
Lord  Dorrington  happened  to  have 
preserved  in  his  escritoire. 

"On  his  return  to  London,  Holmes 
inspected  the  seal  carefully  under  a 
magnifying -glass,  and  was  instantly 
impressed  with  the  fact  that  it  was 
not  unfamiliar  to  him.  He  had  seen 
it  somewhere  before,  but  where? 
That  was  now  the  question  upper 
most  in  his  mind.  Prior  to  this,  he 
had  never  had  any  communication 
with  Lord  Dorrington,  so  that,  if  it 
was  in  his  correspondence  that  the 
seal  had  formerly  come  to  him,  most 
assuredly  the  person  who  had  used 
it  had  come  by  it  dishonestly.  For 
tunately,  at  that  time,  it  was  a  habit 
of  my  father's  never  to  destroy 
papers  of  any  sort.  Every  letter 
26 


The    Dorrington    Ruby   Seal 

that  he  ever  received  was  classified 
and  filed,  envelope  and  all.  The 
thing  to  do,  then,  was  manifestly  to 
run  over  the  files  and  find  the  letter, 
if  indeed  it  was  in  or  on  a  letter  that 
the  seal  had  first  come  to  his  atten 
tion.  It  was  a  herculean  job,  but 
that  never  feazed  Sherlock  Holmes, 
and  he  went  at  it  tooth  and  nail. 
Finally  his  effort  was  rewarded. 
Under  'Applications  for  Autograph* 
he  found  a  daintily  scented  little 
missive  from  a  young  girl  living  at 
Goring-Streatley  on  the  Thames,  the 
daughter,  she  said,  of  a  retired  mis 
sionary —  the  Reverend  James  Tat- 
tersby — asking  him  if  he  would  not 
kindly  write  his  autograph  upon  the 
enclosed  slip  for  her  collection.  It 
was  the  regular  stock  application 
that  truly  distinguished  men  receive 
in  every  mail.  The  only  thing  to 
distinguish  it  from  other  applications 
was  the  beauty  of  the  seal  on  the 
fly  of  the  envelope,  which  attracted 
27 


R.   Holmes   &   Co. 

his  passing  notice  and  was  then  filed 
away  with  the  other  letters  of  similar 
import. 

"'Ho!  ho!'  quoth  Holmes,  as  he 
compared  the  two  impressions  and 
discovered  that  they  were  identical. 
4  An  innocent  little  maiden  who  col 
lects  autographs,  and  a  retired 
missionary  in  possession  of  the  Dor- 
rington  seal,  eh?  Well,  that  is  in 
teresting.  I  think  I  shall  run  down 
to  Goring-Streatley  over  Sunday  and 
meet  Miss  Marjorie  Tattersby  and 
her  reverend  father.  I'd  like  to  see 
to  what  style  of  people  I  have  in 
trusted  my  autograph.' 

"  To  decide  was  to  act  with  Sherlock 
Holmes,  and  the  following  Saturday, 
hiring  a  canoe  at  Windsor,  he  made  his 
way  up  the  river  until  he  came  to  the 
pretty  little  hamlet,  snuggling  in  the 
Thames  Valley ,  if  such  it  may  be  called , 
where  the  young  lady  and  her  good 
father  were  dwelling.  Fortune  favor 
ed  him  in  that  his  prey  was  still  there 
28 


The    Dorrington   Ruby  Seal 

— both  much  respected  by  the  whole 
community ;  the  father  a  fine  looking, 
really  splendid   specimen   of  a  man 
whose  presence  alone  carried  a  con 
viction  of  integrity  and  lofty  mind ; 
the  daughter — well,  to  see  her  was 
to  love  her,  and  the  moment  the  eyes 
of  Sherlock  fell  upon  her  face  that 
great  heart  of  his,  that  had  ever  been 
adamant  to  beauty,  a  very  Gibraltar 
against  the  wiles  of  the  other  sex, 
went  down  in  the  chaos  of  a  first  and 
overwhelming  passion.     So  hard  hit 
was  he  by  Miss  Tattersby's  beauty 
that  his  chief  thought  now  was  to 
avert  rather  than  to  direct  suspicion 
towards    her.     After   all,    she   might 
have  come  into  possession  of  the  jew 
el  honestly,  though  how  the  daugh 
ter  of  a  retired  missionary,  consider 
ing  its  intrinsic  value,  could  manage 
such   a   thing,    was   pretty   hard   to 
understand,    and    he    fled    back    to 
London   to   think   it   over.     Arrived 
there,  he  found  an  invitation  to  visit 
29 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

Dorrington  Castle  again  incog.  Lord 
Dorrington  was  to  have  a  mixed 
week-end  party  over  the  following 
Sunday,  and  this,  he  thought,  would 
give  Holmes  an  opportunity  to  ob 
serve  the  characteristics  of  Dorring 
ton 's  visitors  and  possibly  gain  there 
from  some  clew  as  to  the  light-fingered 
person  from  whose  depredations  his 
lordship  had  suffered.  The  idea  com 
mended  itself <  to  Holmes,  and  in  the 
disguise  of  a  young  American  clergy 
man,  whom  Dorrington  had  met  in 
the  States,  the  following  Friday  found 
him  at  Dorrington  Castle. 

"  Well,  to  make  a  long  story  short," 
said  Raffles  Holmes,  "the  young 
clergyman  was  introduced  to  many 
of  the  leading  sportsmen  of  the  hour, 
and,  for  the  most  part,  they  passed 
muster,  but  one  of  them  did  not,  and 
that  was  the  well-known  cricketer  A. 
J.  Raffles,  for  the  moment  Raffles 
entered  the  room,  jovially  greeting 
everybody  about  him,  and  was  pre- 
30 


The  Dorrington   Ruby  Seal 

sented  to  Lord  Dorrington 's  new 
guest,  Sherlock  Holmes  recognized  in 
him  no  less  a  person  than  the  Rever 
end  James  Tattersby,  retired  mission 
ary  of  Goring-Streatley-on-Thames, 
and  the  father  of  the  woman  who  had 
filled  his  soul  with  love  and  yearning 
of  the  truest  sort.  The  problem  was 
solved.  Raffles  was,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  caught  with  the  goods 
on.  Holmes  could  have  exposed  him 
then  and  there  had  he  chosen  to  do 
so,  but  every  time  it  came  to  the 
point  the  lovely  face  of  Marjorie 
Tattersby  came  between  him  and  his 
purpose.  How  could  he  inflict  the 
pain  and  shame  which  the  exposure 
of  her  father's  misconduct  would  cer 
tainly  entail  upon  that  fair  woman, 
whose  beauty  and  fresh  innocence  had 
taken  so  strong  a  hold  upon  his  heart  ? 
No — that  was  out  of  the  question. 
The  thing  to  do,  clearly,  was  to  visit 
Miss  Tattersby  during  her  father's 
absence,  and,  if  possible,  ascertain 


R.  Holmes    &    Co. 

from  her  just  how  she  had  come  into 
possession  of  the  seal,  before  taking 
further  steps  in  the  matter.  This  he 
did.  Making  sure,  to  begin  with,  that 
Raffles  was  to  remain  at  Dorring- 
ton  Hall  for  the  coming  ten  days, 
Holmes  had  himself  telegraphed  for 
and  returned  to  London.  There  he 
wrote  himself  a  letter  of  introduction 
to  the  Reverend  James  Tattersby,  on 
the  paper  of  the  Anglo-American  Mis 
sionary  Society,  a  sheet  of  which  he 
secured  in  the  public  writing-room  of 
that  institution,  armed  with  which  he 
returned  to  the  beautiful  little  spot 
on  the  Thames  where  the  Tatters- 
bys  abode.  He  spent  the  night  at 
the  inn,  and,  in  conversation  with 
the  landlord  and  boatmen,  learned 
much  that  was  interesting  concerning 
the  Reverend  James.  Among  other 
things,  he  discovered  that  this  gen 
tleman  and  his  daughter  had  been 
respected  residents  of  the  place  for 
three  years;  that  Tattersby  was 
32 


The    Dorrington   Ruby  Seal 

rarely  seen  in  the  daytime  about  the 
place ;  that  he  was  unusually  fond  of 
canoeing  at  night,  which,  he  said, 
gave  him  the  quiet  and  solitude  neces 
sary  for  that  reflection  which  is  so 
essential  to  the  spiritual  being  of  a 
minister  of  grace ;  that  he  frequently 
indulged  in  long  absences,  during 
which  time  it  was  supposed  that  he 
was  engaged  in  the  work  of  his  call 
ing.  He  appeared  to  be  a  man  of 
some,  but  not  of  lavish,  means.  The 
most  notable  and  suggestive  thing, 
however,  that  Holmes  ascertained  in 
his  conversation  with  the  boatmen 
was  that,  at  the  time  of  the  famous 
Cliveden  robbery,  when  several  thou 
sand  pounds'  worth  of  plate  had  been 
taken  from  the  great  hall,  that  later 
fell  into  the  possession  of  a  well- 
known  American  hotel-keeper,  Tat- 
tersby,  who  happened  to  be  on  the 
river  late  that  night,  was,  according 
to  his  own  statement,  the  unconscious 
witness  of  the  escape  of  the  thieves 
33 


R.    Holmes   &    Co. 

on  board  a  mysterious  steam-launch, 
which  the  police  were  never  able 
afterwards  to  locate.  They  had  near 
ly  upset  his  canoe  with  the  wash  of 
their  rapidly  moving  craft  as  they 
sped  past  him  after  having  stowed 
their  lopt  safely  on  board.  Tattersby 
had  supposed  them  to  be  employes 
of  the  estate,  and  never  gave  the 
matter  another  thought  until  three 
days  later,  when  the  news  of  the 
robbery  was  published  to  the  world. 
He  had  immediately  communicated 
the  news  of  what  he  had  seen  to  the 
police,  and  had  done  all  that  lay  in 
his  power  to  aid  them  in  locating  the 
robbers,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  From 
that  day  to  this  the  mystery  of  the 
Cliveden  plot  had  never  been  solved. 
"The  following  day  Holmes  called 
at  the  Tattersby  cottage,  and  was 
fortunate  enough  to  find  Miss  Tatters 
by  at  home.  His  previous  impression 
as  to  her  marvellous  beauty  was  more 
than  confirmed,  and  each  moment 
34 


The    Dorrington  Ruby  Seal 

that  he  talked  to  her  she  revealed  new 
graces  of  manner  that  completed  the 
capture  of  his  hitherto  unsusceptible 
heart.  Miss  Tattersby  regretted  her 
father's  absence.  He  had  gone,  she 
said,  to  attend  a  secret  missionary 
conference  at  Pentwllycod  in  Wales, 
and  was  not  expected  back  for  a  week, 
all  of  which  quite  suited  Sherlock 
Holmes.  Convinced  that,  after  years 
of  waiting,  his  affinity  had  at  last 
crossed  his  path,  he  was  in  no  hurry 
for  the  return  of  that  parent,  who 
would  put  an  instant  quietus  upon 
this  affair  of  the  heart.  Manifestly 
the  thing  for  him  to  do  was  to  win 
the  daughter's  hand,  and  then  inter 
cept  the  father,  acquaint  him  with 
his  aspirations,  and  compel  acqui 
escence  by  the  force  of  his  knowl 
edge  of  Raffles 's  misdeed.  Hence, 
instead  of  taking  his  departure  imme 
diately,  he  remained  at  the  Goring- 
Streatley  Inn,  taking  care  each  day 
to  encounter  Miss  Tattersby  on  one 
4  35 


.     R.  Holmes  &   Co. 

pretext  or  another,  hoping  that  their 
acquaintance  would  ripen  into  friend 
ship,  and  then  into  something  warmer. 
Nor  was  the  hope  a  vain  one,  for  when 
the  fair  Marjorie  learned  that  it  was 
the  visitor's  intention  to  remain  in 
the  neighborhood  until  her  father's 
return,  she  herself  bade  him  to  make 
use  of  the  old  gentleman's  library,  to 
regard  himself  always  as  a  welcome 
daytime  guest.  She  even  suggested 
pleasant  walks  through  the  neighbor 
ing  country,  little  canoe  trips  up  and 
down  the  Thames,  which  they  might 
take  together,  of  all  of  which  Holmes 
promptly  availed  himself,  with  the 
result  that,  at  the  end  of  six  days, 
both  realized  that  they  were  designed 
for  each  other,  and  a  passionate 
declaration  followed  which  opened 
new  vistas  of  happiness  for  both. 
Hence  it  was  that,  when  the  Reverend 
James  Tattersby  arrived  at  Goring- 
Streatley  the  following  Monday  night, 
unexpectedly,  he  was  astounded  to 
36 


The    Dorrington    Ruby  Seal 

find  sitting  together  in  the  moonlight, 
in  the  charming  little  English  garden 
at  the  rear  of  his  dwelling,  two  per 
sons,  one  of  whom  was  his  daughter 
Marjorie  and  the  other  a  young  Amer 
ican  curate  to  whom  he  had  already 
been  introduced  as  A.  J.  Raffles. 

'"We  have  met  before,  I  think,' 
said  Raffles,  coldly,  as  his  eye  fell 
upon  Holmes. 

"I — er — do  not  recall  the  fact/ 
replied  Holmes,  meeting  the  steely 
stare  of  the  home-comer  with  one  of 
his  own  flinty  glances. 

"'H'm!'  ejaculated  Raffles,  non 
plussed  at  the  other's  failure  to  rec 
ognize  him.  Then  he  shivered  slight 
ly.  '  Suppose  we  go  in-doors,  it  is  a 
trifle  chilly  out  here  in  the  night 
air.' 

"The  whole  thing,  the  greeting, 
the  meeting,  Holmes 's  demeanor  and 
all,  was  so  admirably  handled  that 
Marjorie  Tattersby  never  guessed  the 
truth,  never  even  suspected  the  in- 
37 


R.   Holmes   &  Co. 

tense  dramatic  quality  of  the  scene 
she  had  just  gazed  upon. 

"'Yes,  let  us  go  in-doors,'  she  ac 
quiesced.  '  Mr.  Button  has  something 
to  say  to  you,  papa.' 

"  So  I  presumed,'  said  Raffles,  dry 
ly.  'And  something  that  were  bet 
ter  said  to  me  alone,  I  fancy,  eh  ? '  he 
added. 

"'  Quite  so/  said  Holmes,  calmly. 
And  in  -  doors  they  went.  Marjorie 
immediately  retired  to  the  drawing- 
room,  and  Holmes  and  Raffles  went 
at  once  to  Tattersby's  study. 

"'Well?'  said  Raffles,  impatiently, 
when  they  were  seated.  *  I  suppose 
you  have  come  to  get  the  Dorrington 
seal,  Mr.  Holmes.' 

u<Ah — you  know  me,  then,  Mr. 
Raffles?'  said  Holmes,  with  a  pleas 
ant  smile. 

" ', Perfectly, '  said  Raffles.     '  I  knew 

you  at  Dorrington  Hall  the  moment 

I  set  eyes  on  you,  and,  if  I  hadn't,  I 

should  have  known  later,  for  the  night 

38 


The  Dorrington  Ruby  Seal 

after  your  departure  Lord  Dorrington 
took  me  into  his  confidence  and  re 
vealed  your  identity  to  me.' 

"'I  am  glad,'  said  Holmes.  'It 
saves  me  a  great  deal  of  unnecessary 
explanation.  If  you  admit  that  you 
have  the  seal — ' 

'"But  I  don't,'  said  Raffles.  'I 
mentioned  it  a  moment  ago,  because 
Dorrington  told  me  that  was  what 
you  were  after.  I  haven't  got  it, 
Mr.  Holmes.' 

"'I  know  that,'  observed  Holmes, 
quietly.  '  It  is  in  the  possession  of 
Miss  Tattersby,  your  daughter,  Mr. 
Raffles.' 

"'She  showed  it  to  you,  eh?'  de 
manded  Raffles,  paling. 

'"No.  She  sealed  a  note  to  me 
with  it,  however,'  Holmes  replied. 

'"A  note  to  you?'  cried  Raffles. 

"'Yes.  One  asking  for  my  auto 
graph.  I  have  it  in  my  possession,' 
said  Holmes. 

" '  And  how  do  you  know  that  she 
39 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

is  the  person  from  whom  that  note 
really  came?'  Raffles  asked. 

1 '  Because  I  have  seen  the  auto 
graph  which  was  sent  in  response  to 
that  request  in  your  daughter's  col 
lection,  Mr.  Raffles,'  said  Holmes. 

" '  So  that  you  conclude—  ?'  Raffles 
put  in,  hoarsely. 

"'I  do  not  conclude;  I  begin  by 
surmising,  sir,  that  the  missing  seal 
of  Lord  Dorrington  was  stolen  by 
one  of  two  persons — yourself  or  Miss 
Marjorie  Tattersby,'  said  Holmes, 
calmly. 

"'Sir!'  roared  Raffles,  springing  to 
his  feet  menacingly. 

"'Sit  down,  please,'  said  Holmes. 
'You  did  not  let  me  finish.  I  was 
going  to  add,  Dr.  Tattersby,  that  a 
week's  acquaintance  with  that  lovely 
woman,  a  full  knowledge  of  her  pe 
culiarly  exalted  character  and  guile 
less  nature,  makes  the  alternative  of 
guilt  that  affects  her  integrity  clearly 
preposterous,  which,  by  a  very  sim- 
40 


The    Dorrington    Ruby  Seal 

pie  process  of  elimination,  fastens  the 
guilt,  beyond  all  perad venture,  on 
your  shoulders.  At  any  rate,  the 
presence  of  the  seal  in  this  house  will 
involve  you  in  difficult  explanations. 
Why  is  it  here?  How  did  it  come 
here?  Why  are  you  known  as  the 
Reverend  James  Tattersby,  the  mis 
sionary,  at  Goring-Streatley,  and  as 
Mr.  A.  J.  Raffles,  the  cricketer  and 
man  of  the  world,  at  Dorrington 
Hall,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Cliveden 
plate—' 

" '  Damnation !'  roared  the  Rever 
end  James  Tattersby  again,  springing 
to  his  feet  and  glancing  instinctively 
at  the  long  low  book-shelves  behind 
him. 

"'To  say  nothing/  continued 
Holmes,  calmly  lighting  a  cigarette, 
'  of  the  Cliveden  plate  now  lying  con 
cealed  behind  those  dusty  theological 
tomes  of  yours  which  you  never  al 
low  to  be  touched  by  any  other  hand 
than  your  own/ 

41 


R.   Holmes    &  Co. 

"  '  How  did  you  know  ?'  cried  Raf 
fles,  hoarsely. 

" '  I  didn't,'  laughed  Holmes.  '  You 
have  only  this  moment  informed  me 
of  the  fact!' 

"There  was  a  long  pause,  during 
which  Raffles  paced  the  floor  like  a 
caged  tiger. 

"'I'm  a  dangerous  man  to  trifle 
with,  Mr.  Holmes,'  he  said,  finally. 
4 1  can  shoot  you  down  in  cold  blood 
in  a  second.' 

" '  Very  likely, '  said  Holmes.  '  But 
you  won't.  It  would  add  to  the 
difficulties  in  which  the  Reverend 
James  Tattersby  is  already  deeply 
immersed.  Your  troubles  are  suffi 
cient,  as  matters  stand,  without  your 
having  to  explain  to  the  world  why 
you  have  killed  a  defenceless  guest 
in  your  own  study  in  cold  blood.' 

'Well — what  do  you  propose  to 
do?'  demanded  Raffles,  after  another 
pause. 

1  'Marry  your  daughter,  Mr.  Raf- 
42 


''I'M     A     DANGEROUS     MAN     TO     TRIFLE     WITH,      MR. 
HOLMES/    HE    SAID" 


The   Dorrington    Ruby  Seal 

fles,  or  Tattersby,  whatever  your 
permanent  name  is  —  I  guess  it's 
Tattersby  in  this  case,'  said  Holmes. 
'  I  love  her  and  she  loves  me.  Per 
haps  I  should  apologize  for  having 
wooed  and  won  her  without  due 
notice  to  you,  but  you  doubtless  will 
forgive  that.  It's  a  little  formali 
ty  you  sometimes  overlook  yourself 
when  you  happen  to  want  some 
thing  that  belongs  to  somebody  else.' 

"  What  Raffles  would  have  answer 
ed  no  one  knows.  He  had  no  chance 
to  reply,  for  at  that  moment  Marjorie 
herself  put  her  radiantly  lovely  little 
head  in  at  the  door  with  a  'May  I 
come  in?'  and  a  moment  later  she 
was  gathered  in  Holmes 's  arms,  and 
the  happy  lovers  received  the  Rever 
end  James  Tattersby 's  blessing.  They 
were  married  a  week  later,  and,  as  far 
as  the  world  is  concerned,  the  mystery 
of  the  Dorrington  seal  and  that  of  the 
Cliveden  plate  was  never  solved. 

" '  It  is  compounding  a  felony,  Raf- 
43 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

fles,'  said  Holmes,  after  the  wedding, 
'  but  for  a  wife  like  that,  hanged  if  I 
wouldn't  compound  the  ten  com 
mandments  !' 

"I  hope,"  I  ventured  to  put  in  at 
that  point,  "that  the  marriage  cere 
mony  was  not  performed  by  the  Rev 
erend  James  Tattersby." 

"Not  on  your  life!"  retorted  Raf 
fles  Holmes.  "My  father  was  too 
fond  of  my  mother  to  permit  of  any 
flaw  in  his  title.  A  year  later  I  was 
born,  and — well,  here  I  am — son  of 
one,  grandson  of  the  other,  with 
hereditary  traits  from  both  strongly 
developed  and  ready  for  business. 
I  want  a  literary  partner  —  a  man 
who  will  write  me,  up  as  Bunny  did 
Raffles,  and  Watson  did  Holmes,  so 
that  I  may  get  a  percentage  on  that 
part  of  the  swag.  I  offer  you  the 
job,  Jenkins.  Those  royalty  state 
ments  show  me  that  you  are  the 
man,  and  your  books  prove  to  me 
that  you  need  a  few  fresh  ideas. 
44 


The    Dorrington   Ruby  Seal 

Come,  what  do  you  say?  Will  you 
doit?" 

"My  boy,"  said  I,  enthusiastically, 
"don't  say  another  word.  Will  I? 
Well,  just  try  me!" 

And  so  it  was  that  Raffles  Holmes 
and  I  struck  a  bargain  and  became 
partners. 


Ill 

THE     ADVENTURE     OF     MRS.     BURLIN- 

GAME'S  DIAMOND  STOMACHER 

1HAD  seen  the  marvellous  creation 
very  often  at  the  opera,  and  in  many 
ways  resented  it.  Not  that  I  was  in 
the  least  degree  a  victim  to  envy, 
hatred,  and  malice  towards  those  who 
are  possessed  of  a  superabundance  of 
this  world's  good  things — far  from  it. 
I  rejoice  in  the  great  fortunes  of  earth 
because,  with  every  dollar  corralled 
by  the  superior  energies  of  the  multi 
millionaires,  the  fewer  there  are  for 
other  men  to  seek,  and  until  we  stop 
seeking  dollars  and  turn  our  minds 
to  other,  finer  things,  there  will  be  no 
hope  of  peace  and  sweet  content  upon 
this  little  green  ball  we  inhabit.  My 
46 


The    Diamond    Stomacher 

resentment  of  Mrs.  Burlingame's  dia 
mond  stomacher  was  not  then  based 
on  envy  of  its  possession,  but  merely 
upon  the  twofold  nuisance  which  it 
created  at  the  opera-house,  as  the 
lady  who  wore  it  sat  and  listened  to 
the  strains  of  Wagner,  Bizet,  or 
Gounod,  mixed  in  with  the  small-talk 
of  Reggie  Stockson,  Tommie  de  Cou 
pon,  and  other  lights  of  the  social 
firmament.  In  the  first  place,  it 
caused  the  people  sitting  about  me 
in  the  high  seats  of  the  opera-house 
to  chatter  about  it  and  discuss  its 
probable  worth  every  time  the  lady 
made  her  appearance  in  it,  and  I  had 
fled  from  the  standee  part  of  the 
house  to  the  top  gallery  just  to  escape 
the  talkers,  and,  if  possible,  to  get  my 
music  straight,  without  interruptions 
of  any  sort  whatsoever  on  the  side. 
In  the  second  place,  the  confounded 
thing  glittered  so  that,  from  where  I 
sat,  it  was  as  dazzling  as  so  many 
small  mirrors  flashing  in  the  light  of 
47 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

the  sun.  It  seemed  as  if  every  elec 
tric  light  in  the  house  found  some 
kind  of  a  refractor  in  the  thousands 
of  gems  of  which  it  was  composed, 
and  many  of  the  brilliant  light  effects 
of  the  stage  were  dimmed  in  their 
lustre  by  the  persistent  intrusion  of 
Mrs.  Burlingame's  glory  upon  my  line 
of  vision. 

Hence  it  was  that,  when  I  picked 
up  my  morning  paper  and  read  in 
great  flaring  head-lines  on  the  front 
page  that  Mrs.  Burlingame's  diamond 
stomacher  had  been  stolen  from  her 
at  her  Onyx  Cottage  at  Newport,  I 
smiled  broadly,  and  slapped  the  break 
fast-table  so  hard  in  my  satisfaction 
that  even  the  shredded-wheat  biscuits 
flew  up  into  the  air  and  caught  in  the 
chandelier. 

"Thank  Heaven  for  that!"  I  said. 
"  Next  season  I  shall  be  able  to  enjoy 
my  opera  undisturbed.'* 

I  little  thought,  at  that  blissful 
moment,  how  closely  indeed  were  my 
48 


The    Diamond    Stomacher 

own  fortunes  to  be  connected  with 
that  wonderful  specimen  of  the  jewel 
ler's  handicraft,  but  an  hour  later  I 
was  made  aware  of  the  first  link  in  the 
chain  that,  in  a  measure,  bound  me 
to  it.  Breakfast  over,  I  went  to  my 
desk  to  put  the  finishing  touches  to 
a  novel  I  had  written  the  week  before, 
when  word  came  up  on  the  telephone 
from  below  that  a  gentleman  from 
Busybody's  Magazine  wished  to  see  me 
on  an  important  matter  of  business. 

' '  Tell  him  I  'm  already  a  subscriber, ' ' 
I  called  down,  supposing  the  visitor 
to  be  merely  an  agent.  "  I  took  the 
magazine,  and  a  set  of  Chaucer  in  a 
revolving  bookcase,  from  one  of  their 
agents  last  month  and  have  paid  my 
dollar." 

In  a  moment  another  message  came 
over  the  wire. 

"The  gentleman  says  he  wants  to 

see  you  about  writing  a  couple  of 

full-page  sonnets  for  the  Christmas 

number,"  the  office  man  'phoned  up. 

49 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

"Show  him  up,"  I  replied,  instantly. 

Two  minutes  later  a  rather  hand 
some  man,  with  a  fine  eye  and  a  long, 
flowing  gray  beard,  was  ushered  into 
my  apartment. 

"  I  am  Mr.  Stikes,  of  Busybody's, 
Mr.  Jenkins,"  he  said,  with  a  twinkle 
in  his  eye.  "We  thought  you  might 
like  to  contribute  to  our  Christmas 
issue.  We  want  two  sonnets,  one  on 
the  old  Christmas  and  the  other  on 
the  new.  We  can't  offer  you  more 
than  a  thousand  dollars  apiece  for 
them,  but—" 

Something  caught  in  my  throat, 
but  I  managed  to  reply.  "  I  might 
shade  my  terms  a  trifle  since  you 
want  as  many  as  two,"  I  gurgled. 
"And  I  assume  you  will  pay  on 
acceptance?" 

"Certainly,"  he  said,  gravely. 
"  Could  you  let  me  have  them,  say— 
this  afternoon?" 

I  turned  away  so  that  he  would 
not  see  the  expression  of  joy  on  my 
So 


The    Diamond    Stomacher 

face,  and  then  there  came  from  be 
hind  me  a  deep  chuckle  and  the 
observation  in  a  familiar  voice: 

"You  might  throw  in  a  couple  of 
those  Remsen  coolers,  too,  while 
you're  about  it,  Jenkins." 

I  whirled  about  as  if  struck,  and 
there,  in  place  of  the  gray-bearded 
editor,  stood — Raffles  Holmes. 

"Bully  disguise,  eh!"  he  said,  fold 
ing  up  his  beard  and  putting  it  in  his 
pocket. 

"Ye-e-es,"  said  I,  ruefully,  as  I 
thought  of  the  vanished  two  thou 
sand.  "I  think  I  preferred  you  in 
disguise,  though,  old  man,"  I  added. 

"You  won't  when  you  hear  what 
I've  come  for,"  said  he.  "There's 
$5000  apiece  in  this  job  for  us." 

' '  To  what  j  ob  do  you  refer  ? "  I  asked . 

"  The  Burlingame  case,"  he  replied. 
"  I  suppose  you  read  in  the  papers 
this  morning  how  Mrs.  Burlingame 's 
diamond  stomacher  has  turned  up 
missing." 

5  i 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  "  and  I'm  glad  of  it." 

"You  ought  to  be,"  said  Holmes, 
"since  it  will  put  $5000  in  your 
pocket.  You  haven't  heard  yet  that 
there  is  a  reward  of  $10,000  offered 
for  its  recovery.  The  public  an 
nouncement  has  not  yet  been  made, 
but  it  will  be  in  to-night's  papers, 
and  we  are  the  chaps  that  are  going 
to  get  the  reward." 

"But  how?"  I  demanded. 

"  Leave  that  to  me,"  said  he.  "  By- 
the-way,  I  wish  you'd  let  me  leave 
this  suit-case  of  mine  in  your  room 
for  about  ten  days.  It  holds  some 
important  papers,  and  my  shop  is 
turned  topsy-turvy  just  now  with  the 
painters." 

"  Very  well,"  said  I.  "  I'll  shove  it 
under  my  bed." 

I  took  the  suit-case  as  Holmes  had 
requested,  and  hid  it  away  in  my 
bedroom,  immediately  returning  to 
the  library,  where  he  sat  smoking 
one  of  my  cigars  as  cool  as  a  cucum- 
52 


The    Diamond    Stomacher 

her.  There  was  something  in  his  eye, 
however,  that  aroused  my  suspicion 
as  soon  as  I  entered. 

"See  here,  Holmes,"  said  I.  "I 
can't  afford  to  be  mixed  up  in  any 
shady  business  like  this,  you  know. 
Have  you  got  that  stomacher?" 

"  No,  I  haven't,"  said  he.  "  Honor 
bright— I  haven't." 

I  eyed  him  narrowly. 

"I  think  I  understand  the  eva 
sion,"  I  went  on.  "  You  haven't  got 
it  because  I  have  got  it — it's  in  that 
suit-case  under  my  bed." 

"Open  it  and  see  for  yourself," 
said  he.  "  It  isn't  there." 

"But  you  know  where  it  is?"  I 
demanded. 

"How  else  could  I  be  sure  of  that 
$10,000  reward?"  he  asked. 

"Where  is  it?"  I  demanded. 

"  It — er — it  isn't  located  yet — that 

is,   not   finally,"   said   he.     "And  it 

won't  be   for   ten   days.     Ten   days 

from  now  Mrs.  Burlingame  will  find 

S3 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

it  herself  and  we'll  divvy  on  the 
reward,  my  boy,  and  not  a  trace  of 
dishonesty  in  the  whole  business." 

And  with  that  Raffles  Holmes  filled 
his  pockets  with  cigars  from  my 
stores,  and  bidding  me  be  patient 
went  his  way. 

The  effect  of  his  visit  upon  my 
nerves  was  such  that  any  more  work 
that  day  was  impossible.  The  fear 
of  possible  complications  to  follow 
upset  me  wholly,  and,  despite  his 
assurance  that  the  suit  -  case  was 
innocent  of  surreptitiously  acquired 
stomachers,  I  could  not  rid  my  mind 
of  the  suspicion  that  he  made  of  my 
apartment  a  fence  for  the  conceal 
ment  of  his  booty.  The  more  I 
thought  of  it  the  more  was  I  inclined 
to  send  for  him  and  request  him  to 
remove  the  bag  forthwith,  and  yet, 
if  it  should  so  happen  that  he  had 
spoken  the  truth,  I  should  by  that 
act  endanger  our  friendship  and  pos 
sibly  break  the  pact,  which  bade  fair 
54 


The    Diamond    Stomacher 

to  be  profitable.  Suddenly  I  remem 
bered  his  injunction  to  me  to  look  for 
myself  and  see  if  the  stomacher  really 
was  concealed  there,  and  I  hastened 
to  act  upon  it.  It  might  have  been 
pure  bluff  on  his  part,  and  I  resolved 
not  to  be  bluffed. 

The  case  opened  easily,  and  the 
moment  I  glanced  into  it  my  suspi 
cions  were  allayed.  It  contained 
nothing  but  bundle  after  bundle  of 
letters  tied  together  with  pink  and 
blue  ribbons,  one  or  two  old  daguerre 
otypes,  some  locks  of  hair,  and  an 
ivory  miniature  of  Raffles  Holmes 
himself  as  an  infant.  Not  a  stoma 
cher,  diamond  or  otherwise,  was  hid 
in  the  case,  nor  any  other  suspicious 
object,  and  I  closed  it  with  a  sheepish 
feeling  of  shame  for  having  intruded 
upon  the  sacred  correspondence  and 
relics  of  the  happy  childhood  days  of 
my  new  friend. 

That  night,  as  Holmes  had  asserted, 
a  reward  of  $10,000  was  offered  for 
55 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

the  recovery  of  the  Burlingame  stom 
acher,  and  the  newspapers  for  the 
next  ten  days  were  full  of  the  theories 
of  detectives  of  all  sorts,  amateur, 
professional,  and  reportorial.  Cen 
tral  Office  was  after  it  in  one  place, 
others  sought  it  elsewhere.  The  edi 
tor  of  one  New  York  paper  printed  a 
full  list  of  the  names  of  the  guests  at 
Mrs.  Burlingame 's  dinner  the  night 
the  treasure  was  stolen,  and,  whether 
they  ever  discovered  it  for  themselves 
or  not,  several  bearers  of  highly  hon 
ored  social  names  were  shadowed  by 
reporters  and  others  everywhere  they 
went  for  the  next  week.  At  the  end 
of  five  days  the  reward  was  increased 
to  $20,000,  and  then  Raffles  Holmes 's 
name  began  to  appear  in  connection 
with  the  case.  Mrs.  Burlingame  her 
self  had  sent  for  him,  and,  without 
taking  it  out  of  the  hands  of  others, 
had  personally  requested  him  to  look 
into  the  matter.  He  had  gone  to 
Newport  and  looked  the  situation 

56 


The   Diamond   Stomacher 

over  there.  He  had  questioned  all 
the  servants  in  her  two  establish 
ments  at  Newport  and  New  York, 
and  had  finally  assured  the  lady  that, 
on  the  following  Tuesday  morning, 
he  would  advise  her  by  wire  of  the 
definite  location  of  her  missing  jewel. 

During  all  this  time  Holmes  had 
not  communicated  with  me  at  all, 
and  I  began  to  fear  that,  offended 
by  my  behavior  at  our  last  meeting, 
he  had  cut  me  out  of  his  calculations 
altogether,  when,  just  as  I  was  about 
to  retire  on  Sunday  night,  he  reap 
peared  as  he  had  first  come  to  me — 
stealing  up  the  fire-escape;  and  this 
time  he  wore  a  mask,  and  carried  un 
questionably  a  burglar's  kit  and  a 
dark  lantern.  He  started  nervously 
as  he  caught  sight  of  me  reaching 
up  to  turn  off  the  light  in  the 
library. 

4 'Hang  it  all,  Jenkins!"  he  cried. 
"I   thought   you'd   gone   off   to   the 
country  for  the  week-end." 
57 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

"  No,"  said  I.  "  I  meant  to  go,  but 
I  was  detained.  What's  up?" 

"  Oh,  well — I  may  as  well  out  with 
it,"  he  answered.  "I  didn't  want 
you  to  know,  but — well,  watch  and 
see." 

With  this  Raffles  Holmes  strode 
directly  to  my  bookcase,  removed  my 
extra  -  illustrated  set  of  Fox's  Book 
of  Martyrs,  in  five  volumes,  from  the 
shelves,  and  there,  resting  upon  the 
shelf  behind  them,  glittered  nothing 
less  than  the  missing  stomacher! 

"Great  Heavens,  Holmes!"  I  said, 
"what  does  this  mean?  How  did 
those  diamonds  get  there?" 

"I  put  them  there  myself  while 
you  were  shoving  my  suit-case  under 
your  bed  the  other  night,"  said  he. 

"You  told  me  you  didn't  have 
them,"  I  said,  reproachfully. 

"I  didn't  when  I  spoke — you  had 
them,"  said  he. 

"You  told  me  they  had  not  been 
finally  located,"  I  persisted,  angrily. 
58 


The   Diamond  Stomacher 

"  I  told  you  the  truth.  They  were 
only  temporarily  located,"  he  an 
swered.  ''I'm  going  to  locate  them 
definitely  to-night,  and  to-morrow 
Mrs.  Burlingame  will  find  them — " 

"Where?"  I  cried. 

"In  her  own  safe  in  her  New  York 
house  !"  said  Raffles  Holmes. 

"You—" 

"Yes — I  took  them  from  Newport 
myself  —  very  easy  job,  too,"  said 
Raffles  Holmes.  "Ever  since  I  saw 
them  at  the  opera  last  winter  I  have 
had  this  in  mind,  so  when  Mrs.  Bur 
lingame  gave  her  dinner  I  served  as 
an  extra  butler  from  Delmonico's— 
drugged  the  regular  chap  on  the  train 
on  his  way  up  from  New  York — took 
his  clothes,  and  went  in  his  place. 
That  night  I  rifled  the  Newport  safe 
of  the  stomacher,  and  the  next  day 
brought  it  here.  To-night  I  take  it 
to  the  Burlingame  house  on  Fifth 
Avenue,  secure  entrance  through  a 
basement  door,  to  which,  in  my  ca- 
59 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

pacity  of  detective,  I  have  obtained 
the  key,  and,  while  the  caretakers 
sleep,  Mrs.  Burlingame's  diamond 
stomacher  will  be  placed  in  the  safe 
on  the  first  floor  back. 

"To-morrow  morning  I  shall  send 
Mrs.  Burlingame  this  message :  *  Have 
you  looked  in  your  New  York  safe? 
[Signed]  Raffles  Holmes,'"  he  con 
tinued.  "  She  will  come  to  town  by 
the  first  train  to  find  out  what  I  mean ; 
we  will  go  to  her  residence;  she  will 
open  the  safe,  and — $20,000  for  us." 

"By  Jove!  Holmes,  you  are  a 
wonder,"  said  I.  "This  stomacher 
is  worth  $250,000  at  the  least,"  I 
added,  as  I  took  the  creation  in  my 
hand.  " Pot  of  money  that!" 

"Yes,"  said  he,  with  a  sigh,  taking 
the  stomacher  from  me  and  fondling 
it.  "The  Raffles  in  me  tells  me  that, 
but  the  Sherlock  Holmes  in  my  veins 
—well,  I  can't  keep  it,  Jenkins,  if 
that  is  what  you  mean." 

I  blushed  at  the  intimation  con- 
60 


THAT     NIGHT    I     RIFLED     THE     NEWPORT     SAFE     OF 
THE    STOMACHER*' 


The    Diamond   Stomacher 

veyed  by  his  words,  and  was  silent; 
and  Holmes,  gathering  up  his  tools 
and  stuffing  the  stomacher  in  the 
capacious  bosom  of  his  coat,  bade  me 
ait  revoir,  and  went  out  into  the  night. 

The  rest  is  already  public  property. 
All  the  morning  papers  were  full  of 
the  strange  recovery  of  the  Burlin- 
game  stomacher  the  following  Tues 
day  morning,  and  the  name  of  Raffles 
Holmes  was  in  every  mouth.  That 
night,  the  very  essence  of  prompti 
tude,  Holmes  appeared  at  my  apart 
ment  and  handed  me  a  check  for  my 
share  in  the  transaction. 

"Why — what  does  this  mean?"  I 
cried,  as  I  took  in  the  figures ;  "  $12,- 
500 — I  thought  it  was  to  be  only 
$10,090." 

"It  was,"  said  Raffles  Holmes, 
"but  Mrs.  Burlingame  was  so  over 
joyed  at  getting  the  thing  back  she 
made  the  check  for  $25,000  instead 
of  for  $20,000." 

61 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

"  You're  the  soul  of  honor,  Holmes !" 
I  murmured. 

"On  my  father's  side,"  he  said, 
with  a  sigh.  "On  my  mother's  side 
it  comes  hard." 

"And  Mrs.  Burlingame — didn't  she 
ask  you  how  you  ferreted  the  thing 
out?"  I  asked. 

"Yes,"  said  Holmes.  " But  I  told 
her  that  that  was  my  secret,  that  my 
secret  was  my  profession,  and  that 
my  profession  was  my  bread  and 
butter." 

"  But  she  must  have  asked  you  who 
was  the  guilty  person  ?"  I  persisted. 

"Yes,"  said  Holmes,  "she  did,  and 
I  took  her  for  a  little  gallop  through 
the  social  register,  in  search  of  the 
guilty  party ;  that  got  on  her  nerves, 
so  that  when  it  came  down  .to  an 
absolute  question  of  identity  she 
begged  me  to  forget  it." 

"  I  am  dull  of  comprehension,  Raf 
fles,"  said  I.  "Tell  me  exactly  what 
you  mean." 

62 


The   Diamond   Stomacher 

"  Simply  this,"  said  Raffles  Holmes. 
4 'The  present  four  hundred  consists 
of  about  19,250  people,  of  whom  about 
twenty-five  per  cent,  go  to  Newport 
at  one  time  or  another — say,  4812. 
Of  these  4812  about  ten  per  cent,  are 
eligible  for  invitations  to  the  Bur- 
lingame  dinners,  or  480.  Now  whom 
of  the  480  possibilities  having  access 
to  the  Burlingame  cottage  would  we 
naturally  suspect  ?  Surely  only  those 
who  were  in  the  vicinity  the  night  of 
the  robbery.  By  a  process  of  elimina 
tion  we  narrowed  them  down  to  just 
ten  persons  exclusive  of  Mrs.  Bur 
lingame  herself  and  her  husband,  old 
Billie  Burlingame.  We  took  the  lot 
and  canvassed  them.  There  were 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Willington  Bodfish — 
they  left  early  and  the  stomacher  was 
known  to  be  safe  at  the  time  of  their 
departure.  There  were  Bishop  and 
Mrs.  Pounderby,  neither  of  whom 
would  be  at  all  likely  to  come  back 
in  the  dead  of  the  night  and  remove 
63 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

property  that  did  not  belong  to  them. 
There  were  Senator  and  Mrs.  Jor- 
rocks.  The  Senator  is  after  bigger 
game  than  diamond  stomachers,  and 
Mrs.  Jorrocks  is  known  to  be  honest. 
There  were  Harry  Gaddsby  and  his 
wife.  Harry  doesn't  know  enough 
to  go  in  when  it  rains,  and  is  too 
timid  to  call  even  his  soul  his  own, 
so  he  couldn't  have  taken  it;  and 
Mrs.  Gaddsby  is  long  on  stomachers, 
having  at  least  five,  and  therefore 
would  not  be  likely  to  try  to  land  a 
sixth  by  questionable  means.  In 
that  way  we  practically  cleared  eight 
possibilities  of  suspicion. 

"Now,  Mrs.  Burlingame,'  said  I, 
'that  leaves  four  persons  still  in  the 
ring  —  yourself,  your  husband,  your 
daughter,  and  the  Duke  of  Snarleyow, 
your  daughter's  newly  acquired  fiance, 
in  whose  honor  the  dinner  was  given. 
Of  these  four,  you  are  naturally  your 
self  the  first  to  be  acquitted.  Your 
husband  comes  next,  and  is  not  likely 
64 


The   Diamond   Stomacher 

to  be  the  guilty  party,  because  if  he 
wants  a  diamond  stomacher  he  needn't 
steal  it,  having  money  enough  to  buy 
a  dozen  of  them  if  he  wishes.  The 
third,  your  daughter,  should  be  re 
garded  as  equally  innocent,  because 
if  she  was  really  desirous  of  possessing 
the  jewel  all  she  had  to  do  was  to 
borrow  it  from  you.  That  brings  us 
down  to  the  Duke  of— 

" '  Hush !  I  beg  of  you,  Mr.  Raffles 
Holmes!'  she  cried,  in  great  agitation. 
'Not  another  word,  I  beseech  you! 
If  any  one  should  overhear  us —  The 
subject,  after  all,  is  an  unprofitable 
one,  and  I'd — I'd  rather  drop  it,  and 
it — it — er — it  has  just  occurred  to  me 
that  possibly  I — er — possibly  I — ' 

" '  Put  the  jewel  in  the  safe  your 
self  ?'  I  suggested. 

"'Yes,'  said  Mrs.  Burlingame,  with 
a  grateful  glance  and  a  tremendous 
sigh  of  relief.  'Now  that  I  think  of 
it,  Mr.  Raffles  Holmes — that  was  it. 
I — er — I  remember  perfectly  that— 
65 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

er — that  I  didn't  wear  it  at  all  the 
night  of  my  little  dinner,  and  that  I 
did  leave  it  behind  me  when  I  left 
town." 

"  Humph !"  said  I.  "  That  may  ac 
count  for  the  extra  $5000 — 

"It  may,"  said  Raffles  Holmes, 
pursing  his  lips  into  a  deprecatory 
smile. 


IV 


THE   ADVENTURE   OF   THE   MISSING 
PENDANTS 

"  T  THINK,"  said  Raffles  Holmes, 
1  as  he  ran  over  his  expense  ac 
count  while  sitting  in  my  library  one 
night  some  months  ago,  ''that  in 
view  of  the  present  condition  of  my 
exchequer,  my  dear  Jenkins,  it  be- 
hooveth  me  to  get  busy.  Owning  a 
motor-car  is  a  demned  expensive 
piece  of  business,  and  my  balance 
at  the  bank  has  shrunk  to  about 
$1683.59,  thanks  to  my  bills  for 
cogs,  clutches,  and  gasoline,  plus  the, 
chauffeur's  fines." 

"  In  what  capacity  shall  you  work, 
Raffles  or  Holmes?"  I  asked,  paus 
ing  in  my  writing  and  regarding 

6  67 


R.    Holmes   &    Co. 

him  with  that  affectionate  interest 
which  contact  with  him  had  inspired 
in  me. 

''Play  the  combination  always, 
Jenkins,"  he  replied.  "  If  I  did  the 
Raffles  act  alone,  I  should  become  a 
billionaire  in  this  land  of  silk  and 
money,  your  rich  are  so  careless  of 
their  wealth  —  but  where  would  my 
conscience  be?  On  the  other  hand, 
if  I  stuck  to  the  Holmes  act  ex 
clusively,  I'd  starve  to  death;  but 
the  combination — ah — there  is  mod 
erate  fortune,  my  boy,  with  peace  of 
mind  thrown  in." 

Here  he  rose  up,  buttoned  his  coat 
about  his  spare  figure,  and  reached 
out  for  his  hat. 

"  I  guess  I'll  tackle  that  case  of  the 
missing  pendants  to-morrow,"  he  con 
tinued,  flicking  the  ash  from  his  cigar 
and  gazing  up  at  the  ceiling  with  that 
strange  twist  in  his  eye  which  I  had 
learned  to  regard  as  the  harbinger  of 
a  dawning  idea  in  his  mind.  "  There's 
68 


The   Missing   Pendants 

ten  thousand  dollars  for  somebody  in 
that  job,  and  you  and  I  might  as  well 
have  it  as  any  one  else." 

"I'm  ready,"  said  I,  as  well  I 
might  be,  for  all  I  had  to  do  in  the 
matter  was  to  record  the  adventure 
and  take  my  half  of  the  profits — no 
very  difficult  proceeding  in  either 
case. 

"Good,"  quoth  he.  "I'll  go  to 
Gaffany  &  Co.  to-morrow  and  offer 
my  services." 

"You  have  a  clew?"  I  asked. 

"I  have  an  idea,"  he  answered. 
"  As  for  the  lost  diamonds,  I  know  no 
more  of  their  whereabouts  than  you 
do,  but  I  shall  be  able  beyond  all 
question  to  restore  to  Gaffany  &  Co. 
two  pendants  just  as  good  as  those 
they  have  lost,  and  if  I  do  that  I 
am  entitled  to  the  reward,  I  fancy, 
am  I  not?" 

"Most  certainly,"  said  I.  "But 
where  the  dickens  will  you  find 
two  such  stones?  They  are  worth 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

$50,000  apiece,  and  they  must  match 
perfectly  the  two  remaining  jewels 
which  Gaff  any  &  Co.  have*  in  their 
safe." 

"I'll  match  'em  so  closely  that 
their  own  mother  couldn't  tell  'em 
apart,"  said  Holmes,  with  a  chuckle. 

"Then  the  report  that  they  are  of 
such  rarity  of  cut  and  lustre  is  un 
true?"  I  asked. 

"It's  perfectly  true,"  said  Holmes, 
"but  that  makes  no  difference.  The 
two  stones  that  I  shall  return  two 
weeks  from  to-day  to  Gaff  any  &  Co. 
will  be  as  like  the  two  they  have  as 
they  are  themselves.  Ta-ta,  Jenkins 
—you  can  count  on  your  half  of  that 
ten  thousand  as  surely  as  though  it 
jingled  now  in  your  pockets." 

And  with  that  Raffles  Holmes  left 
me  to  my  own  devices. 

I  presume  that  most  readers  of  the 
daily  newspapers  are  tolerably  famil 
iar  with  the  case  of  the  missing 
pendants  to  which  Holmes  referred, 
70 


The   Missing  Pendants 

and  on  the  quest  for  which  he  was 
now  about  to  embark.  There  may 
be  some  of  you,  however,  who  have 
never  heard  of  the  mysterious  robbery 
of  Gaff  any  &  Co.,  by  which  two  dia 
monds  of  almost  matchless  purity- 
half  of  a  quartet  of  these  stones — 
pear-shaped  and  valued  at  $50,000 
each,  had  disappeared  almost  as  if 
the  earth  had  opened  and  swallowed 
them  up.  They  were  a  part  of  the 
famous  Gloria  Diamond,  found  last 
year  at  Kimberley,  a  huge,  uncut 
gem  of  such  value  that  no  single  pur 
chaser  for  it  could  be  found  in  the 
world.  By  a  syndicate  arrangement 
Gaffany  &  Co.  had  assumed  charge  of 
it,  and  were  in  the  process  of  making 
for  a  customer  a  bar  with  four  pen 
dants  cut  from  the  original,  when 
two  of  them  disappeared.  They  had 
been  last  seen  in  the  hands  of  a 
trusted  employe  of  many  years' 
standing,  to  whom  they  had  been 
intrusted  for  mounting,  and  he  had 
71 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

been  seen  to  replace  them,  at  the  end 
of  the  day's  work,  in  the  little  cage- 
like  office  of  the  custodian  of  the  safe 
in  which  jewels  of  great  value  were 
kept  at  night.  This  was  the  last  seen 
of  them,  and  although  five  weeks  had 
elapsed  since  the  discovery  of  their 
loss  and  Holmes 's  decision  to  look 
into  the  matter,  no  clew  of  the  slight 
est  description  had  been  discovered 
by  the  thousands  of  sleuths,  profes 
sional  or  amateur,  who  had  inter 
ested  themselves  in  the  case. 

"He  has  such  assurance!"  I  mut 
tered.  "To  hear  him  talk  one  would 
almost  believe  that  they  were  already 
in  his  possession." 

I  did  not  see  Raffles  Holmes  again 
for  five  days,  and  then  I  met  him  only 
by  chance,  nor  should  I  have  known 
it  was  he  had  he  not  made  himself 
known  to  me.  I  was  on  my  way  up 
town,  a  little  after  six  o'clock,  and 
as  I  passed  Gaff  any 's  an  aged  man 
emerged  from  the  employes'  en- 
72 


The   Missing   Pendants 

trance,  carrying  a  small  bag  in  his 
hand.  He  was  apparently  very  near 
sighted,  for  he  most  unceremoniously 
bumped  into  me  as  he  came  out  of 
the  door  on  to  the  sidewalk. 

Deference  to  age  has  always  been  a 
weakness  of  mine,  and  I  apologized, 
although  it  was  he  that  was  at  fault. 

"Don't  mention  it,  Jenkins,"  he 
whispered.  ''You  are  just  the  man 
I  want  to  see.  Caf6  Panhard — to 
night — eleven  o'clock.  Just  happen 
in,  and  if  a  foreign-looking  person 
with  a  red  beard  speaks  to  you  don't 
throw  him  down,  but  act  as  if  you 
were  not  annoyed  by  his  mistake." 

"You  know  me?"  I  asked. 

"  Tush,  man— I'm  Raffles  Holmes !" 
and  with  that  he  was  off. 

His  make-up  was  perfect,  and  as  he 
hobbled  his  way  along  Broadway 
through  the  maze  of  cars,  trucks,  and 
hansoms,  there  was  not  in  any  part 
of  him  a  hint  or  a  suggestion  that 
brought  to  mind  my  alert  partner. 
73 


R.   Holmes   &   Co. 

Of  course  my  excitement  was  in 
tense.  I  could  hardly  wait  for  eleven 
o'clock  to  come,  and  at  9.30  I  found 
myself  in  front  of  the  Cafe"  Pan- 
hard  a  full  hour  and  a  half  ahead 
of  time,  and  never  were  there  more 
minutes  in  that  period  of  waiting 
than  there  seemed  to  be  then  as  I 
paced  Broadway  until  the  appointed 
hour.  It  seemed  ages  before  the 
clock  down  in  front  of  the  Whirald 
Building  pointed  to  10.55,  but  at  last 
the  moment  arrived,  and  I  entered 
the  cafe,  taking  one  of  the  little 
tables  in  the  farther  corner,  where 
the  light  was  not  unduly  strong  and 
where  the  turmoil  of  the  Hungarian 
band  was  reduced  by  distance  from 
moltofortissimo  to  a  moderate  ap 
proach  to  a  pianissimo,  which  would 
admit  of  conversation.  Again  I  had 
to  wait,  but  not  for  so  long  a  time. 
It  was  twenty  minutes  past  eleven 
when  a  fine-looking  man  of  military 
bearing,  wearing  a  full  red  beard, 
74 


The    Missing   Pendants 

entered,  and  after  looking  the  cafe* 
over,  sauntered  up  to  where  I  sat. 

' ' Good-evening,  Mr.  Jenkins,"  said 
he,  with  a  slight  foreign  accent.  '  'Are 
you  alone?" 

"  Yes,  "said  I. 

"If  you  don't  mind,  I  should  like 
to  sit  here  for  a  few  moments,"  he 
observed,  pulling  out  the  chair  oppo 
site  me.  "I  have  your  permission?" 

''Certainly,  Mr.— er— " 

" Robins tein  is  my  name,"  said  he, 
sitting  down,  and  producing  a  letter 
from  his  pocket.  "  I  have  here  a 
note  from  my  old  friend  Raffles 
Holmes — a  note  of  introduction  to 
you.  I  am  a  manufacturer  of  paste 
jewels — or  rather  was.  I  have  had 
one  or  two  misfortunes  in  my  busi 
ness,  and  find  myself  here  in  America 
practically  stranded . ' ' 

"  Your  place  of  business  was— 

"  In  the  Rue  de  1'Echelle  in  Paris," 
he  explained.  "  I  lost  everything  in 
unfortunate  speculation,  and  have 
75 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

come  here  to  see  if  I  could  not  get  a 
new  start.  Mr.  Holmes  thinks  you 
can  use  your  influence  with  Markoo 
&  Co.,  the  theatrical  costumers,  who, 
I  believe,  manufacture  themselves 
all  the  stage  jewelry  they  use  in 
their  business,  to  give  me  some 
thing  to  do.  It  was  said  in  Paris 
that  the  gems  which  I  made  were 
of  such  quality  that  they  would  de 
ceive,  for  a  time,  anyhow,  the.  most 
expert  lapidaries,  and  if  I  can  only 
get  an  opening  with  Markoo  &  Co. 
I  am  quite  confident  that  you  will 
not  repent  having  exerted  your  good 
offices  in  my  behalf." 

"Why,  certainly,  Mr.  Robinstein," 
said  I.  "  Any  friend  of  Raffles  Holmes 
may  command  my  services.  I  know 
Tommy  Markoo  very  well,  and  as 
this  is  a  pretty  busy  time  with  him, 
getting  his  stuff  out  for  the  fall  pro 
ductions,  I  have  little  doubt  I  shall 
be  able  to  help  you.  By  Jove!"  I 
added,  as  I  glanced  over  the  cafe, 


The    Missing    Pendants 

"  that's  a  singular  coincidence — there 
is  Markoo  himself  just  coming  in  the 
doorway." 

"  Really?"  said  Mr.  Robinstein, 
turning  and  gazing  towards  the  door. 
"He's  a  different-looking  chap  from 
what  I  had  imagined.  Perhaps,  Mr. 
Jenkins,  it  would — er — expedite  mat 
ters  if  you — 

"Of  course,"  I  interrupted.  "Tom 
my  is  alone — we'll  have  him  over." 

And  I  beckoned  to  Markoo  and 
invited  him  to  join  us. 

"Good!"  said  he,  in  his  whole- 
souled  way.  "  Glad  to  have  a  chance 
to  see  you — I'm  so  confoundedly  busy 
these  days — just  think  of  it,  I've  been 
at  the  shop  ever  since  eight  o'clock 
this  morning." 

"Tommy,  I  want  to  introduce  you 
to  my  friend  Mr.  Robinstein,"  said  I. 

"  Not  Isidore  Robinstein,  of  Paris  ?" 
said  Markoo. 

"  I  have  that  misfortune,  Mr.  Mar 
koo,"  said  Robinstein. 
77 


R.   Holmes   &   Co. 

"Misfortune?  Gad,  Mr.  Robin- 
stein,  we  look  at  things  through  dif 
ferent  glasses,"  returned  Markoo. 
"The  man  who  can  do  your  work 
ought  never  to  suffer  misfortune — 

"If  he  only  stays  out  of  the  stock- 
market,"  said  Robins tein. 

"  Aha,"  laughed  Tommy.  "  Et  tu, 
Brute?" 

We  all  Laughed,  and  if  there  was 
any  ice  to  be  broken  after  that  it  was 
along  the  line  of  business  of  the  cafe. 
We  got  along  famously  together,  and 
when  we  parted  company,  two  hours 
later,  all  the  necessary  arrangements 
had  been  made  for  Mr.  Robinstein  to 
begin  at  once  with  Markoo — the  fol 
lowing  day,  in  fact. 

Four  nights  later  Holmes  turned 
up  at  my  apartment. 

"Well,"  said  I,  "have  you  come  to 
report  progress?" 

"  Yes,"  he  said.  " The  reward  will 
arrive  on  time,  but  it's  been  the  de'il's 
own  job.  Pretty,  aren't  they!"  he 
78 


The    Missing    Pendants 

added,  taking  a  small  package  wrap 
ped  in  tissue-paper  out  of  his  pocket, 
and  disclosing  its  contents. 

" Gee-rusalem,  what  beauties!"  I 
cried,  as  my  eyes  fell  on  two  such  dia 
monds  as  I  had  never  before  seen. 
They  sparkled  on  the  paper  like  bits 
of  sunshine,  and  that  their  value  was 
quite  $100,000  it  did  not  take  one 
like  myself,  who  knew  little  of  gems, 
to  see  at  a  glance.  "  You  have  found 
them,  have  you?" 

"Found  what?"  asked  Raffles 
Holmes. 

''The  missing  pendants,"  said  I. 

"Well— not  exactly,"  said  Raffles 
Holmes.  "I  think  I'm  on  the  track 
of  them,  though.  There's  an  old 
chap  who  works  beside  me  down  at 
Gaff  any 's  who  spends  so  much  of 
his  time  drinking  ice- water  that  I'm 
getting  to  be  suspicious  of  him." 

I  roared  with  laughter. 

"The  ice- water  habit  is  evidence  of 
a  criminal  nature,  eh?"  I  queried. 
79 


R.   Holmes   &  Co. 

"  Not  per  se,"  said  Holmes,  gravely, 
"but  in  conjunctibus — if  my  Latin  is 
weak,  please  correct  me — it  is  a  very 
suspicious  habit.  When  I  see  a  man 
drink  ten  glasses  of  water  in  two  hours 
it  indicates  to  my  mind  that  there  is 
something  in  the  water-cooler  that 
takes  his  mind  off  his  business.  It  is 
not  likely  to  be  either  the  ice  or  the 
water,  on  the  doctrine  of  probabilities. 
Hence  it  must  be  something  else.  I 
caught  him  yesterday  with  his  hand 
in  it." 

"  His  hand  ?  In  the  water-cooler  ?" 
I  demanded. 

"  Yes,"  said  Holmes.  "  He  said  he 
was  fishing  around  for  a  little  piece  of 
ice  to  cool  his  head,  which  ached,  but 
I  think  differently.  He  got  as  pale 
as  a  ghost  when  I  started  in  to  fish 
for  a  piece  for  myself  because  my 
head  ached  too.  I  think  he  took  the 
diamonds  and  has  hid  them  there, 
but  I'm  not  sure  yet,  and  in  my 
business  I  can't  afford  to  make  mis- 
80 


The    Missing    Pendants 

takes.  If  my  suspicions  are  correct, 
he  is  merely  awaiting  his  opportunity 
to  fish  them  out  and  light  out  with 
them." 

"Then  these,"  I  said,  "are— are 
they  paste?" 

"  No,  indeed,  they're  the  real  thing," 
said  Raffles  Holmes,  holding  up  one  of 
the  gems  to  the  light,  where  it  fairly 
coruscated  with  brilliance  "These 
are  the  other  two  of  the  original 
quartet." 

"Great  Heavens,  Holmes — do  you 
mean  to  say  that  Gaff  any  &  Co. 
permit  you  to  go  about  with  things 
like  this  in  your  pocket  ?"  I  de 
manded. 

"Not  they,"  laughed  Holmes. 
"They'd  have  a  fit  if.  they  knew  I 
had  'em,  only  they  don't  know  it." 

"  But  how  have  you  concealed  the 
fact  from  them?"  I  persisted. 

"Robinstein  made  me  a  pair  ex 
actly  like  them,"  said  Holmes.  "  The 
paste  ones  are  now  lying  in  the  Gaff- 
Si  " 


R.   Holmes  &  Co. 

any  safe,  where  I  saw  them  placed 
before  leaving  the  shop  to-night." 

"  You're  too  deep  for  me,  Holmes," 
said  I.  "  What's  the  game  ?" 

"Now  don't  say  game,  Jenkins," 
he  protested.  "I  never  indulge  in 
games.  My  quarry  is  not  a  game, 
but  a  scheme.  For  the  past  two 
weeks,  with  three  days  off,  I  have 
been  acting  as  a  workman  in  the 
Gaffany  shop,  witW  the  ostensible 
purpose  of  keeping  my  eye  on  cer 
tain  employes  who  are  under  suspi 
cion.  Each  day  the  remaining  two 
pendant-stones  —  these  —  have  been 
handed  to  me  to  work  on,  merely  to 
carry  out  the  illusion.  The  first  day, 
in  odd  moments,  I  made  sketches  of 
them,  and  on  the  night  of  the  second 
I  had  'em  down  in  such  detail  as  to 
cut  and  color,  that  Robins tein  had  no 
difficulty  in  reproducing  them  in  the 
materials  at  his  disposal  in  Markoo's 
shop.  And  to-night  all  I  had  to  do 
to  get  them  was  to  keep  them  and 
82 


The   Missing  Pendants 

hand  in  the  Robinstein  substitutes 
when  the  hour  of  closing  came." 

"So  that  now,  in  place  of  four 
$50,000  diamonds,  Gaff  any  &  Co.  are 
in  possession  of — " 

"  Two  paste  pendants,  worth  about 
$40  apiece,"  said  Holmes.  "If  I  fail 
to  find  the  originals  I  shall  have  to 
use  the  paste  ones  to  carry  the  scheme 
through,  but  I  hate  to  do  it.  It's  so 
confoundly  inartistic  and  as  old  a 
trick  as  the  pyramids." 

"And  to-morrow — " 

Raffles  Holmes  got  up  and  paced 
the  floor  nervously. 

"Ah,  Jenkins,"  he  said,  with  a 
heart-rending  sigh,  "  that  is  the  point. 
To-morrow!  Heavens!  what  will  to 
morrow's  story  be  ?  I  —  I  cannot 
tell." 

"What's  the  matter,  Holmes?" 
said  I.  "Are  you  in  danger?" 

"  Physically,  no — morally,  my  God! 
Jenkins,  yes.  I  shall  need  all  of  your 
help,"  he  cried. 

»  83 


R.   Holmes  &  Co. 

"  What  can  I  do  ?"  I  asked.  "  You 
know  you  have  only  to  command 
me," 

"Don't  leave  me  this  night  for  a 
minute,"  he  groaned.  "If  you  do,  I 
am  lost.  The  Raffles  in  me  is  ram 
pant  when  I  look  at  those  jewels  and 
think  of  what  they  will  mean  if  I  keep 
them.  An  independent  fortune  for 
ever.  All  I  have  to  do  is  to  get 
aboard  a  ship  and  go  to  Japan  and 
live  in  comfort  the  rest  of  my  days 
with  this  wealth  in  my  possession, 
and  all  the  instincts  of  honesty  that 
I  possess,  through  the  father  in  me, 
will  be  powerless  to  prevent  my  in 
dulgence  in  this  crime.  Keep  me  in 
sight,  and  if  I  show  the  slightest 
inclination  to  give  you  the  slip,  knock 
me  over  the  head  will  you,  for  my 
own  good?" 

I  promised  faithfully  that  I  would 

do  as  he  asked,  but,  as  an  easier  way 

out    of    an    unpleasant    situation,    I 

drugged   his   Remsen  cooler  with  a 

84 


The    Missing    Pendants 

sleeping-powder,  and  an  hour  later 
he  was  lying  off  on  my  divan  lost  to 
the  world  for  eight  hours  at  least.  As 
a  further  precaution  I  put  the  jewels 
in  my  own  safe. 

The  night's  sleep  had  the  desired 
effect,  and  with  the  returning  day 
Holmes 's  better  nature  asserted  it 
self.  Raffles  was  subdued,  and  he 
returned  to  Gaff  any 's  to  put  the  fin 
ishing  touches  to  his  work. 

"Here's  your  check,  Jenkins,"  said 
Raffles  Holmes,  handing  me  a  draft 
for  $5000.  "The  gems  were  found 
to-day  in  the  water-cooler  in  the  work 
room,  and  Gaff  any  &  Co.  paid  up  like 
gentlemen." 

"And  the  thief?"  I  asked. 

"  Under  arrest,"  said  Raffles  Holmes. 
"  We  caught  him  fishing  for  them." 

"And  your  paste  jewels,  where  are 
they?" 

"I  wish  I  knew,"  he  answered,  his 
face  clouding  over.  "In  the  excite- 

8s 


R.   Holmes  &  Co. 

ment  of  the  moment  of  the  arrest  I 
got  'em  mixed  with  the  originals  I 
had  last  night,  and  they  didn't  give 
me  time  or  opportunity  to  pick  'em 
out.  The  four  were  mounted  im 
mediately  and  sent  under  guard  to 
the  purchaser.  Gaffany  &  Co.  didn't 
want  to  keep  them  a  minute  longer 
than  was  necessary.  But  the  pur 
chaser  is  so  rich  he  will  never  have 
to  sell  'em  —  so,  you  see,  Jenkins, 
we're  as  safe  as  a  church." 

"Your  friend  Robinstein  was  a 
character,  Holmes,"  said  I. 

"Yes,"  sighed  Holmes.  "Poor 
chap — he  was  a  great  loss  to  his 
friends.  He  taught  me  the  art  of 
making  paste  gems  when  I  was  in 
Paris.  I  miss  him  like  the  dickens." 

"Miss  him!"  said  I,  getting  anxious 
for  Robinstein.  "  What's  happened  ? 
He  isn't—" 

"  Dead, ' '  said  Holmes.  "  Two  years 
ago — dear  old  chap." 

"Oh,  come  now,  Holmes,"  I  said. 
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WE     CAUGHT     HIM     FISHING     FOR    THEM 


The  Missing    Pendants 

"What  new  game  is  this  you  are 
rigging  on  me  ?  I  met  him  only  five 
nights  ago — and  you  know  it." 

"Oh  — that  one,"  said  Raffles 
Holmes,  with  a  laugh.  "I  was  that 
Robins  tein." 

"You?"  I  cried. 

"Yes,  me,"  said  Holmes.  "You 
don't  suppose  I'd  let  a  third  party 
into  our  secret,  do  you?" 

And  then  he  gave  me  one  of  those 
sweet,  wistful  smiles  that  made  the 
wonder  of  the  man  all  the  greater. 

"I  wish  to  the  dickens  I  knew 
whether  these  were  real  or  paste!" 
he  muttered,  taking  the  extra  pen 
dants  from  his  wallet  as  he  spoke. 
"I  don't  dare  ask  anybody,  and  I 
haven't  got  any  means  of  telling 
myself." 

"Give  them  to  me,"  said  I,  stern 
ly,  noting  a  glitter  in  his  eye  that 
suggested  the  domination  for  the 
moment  of  the  Raffles  in  him. 

"Tush,  Jenkins,  "he  began,  uneasily. 
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R.   Holmes  &  Co. 

"Give  them  to  me,  or  I'll  brain 
you,  Holmes,"  said  I,  standing  over 
him  with  a  soda-water  bottle  gripped 
in  my  right  hand,  "for  your  own 
good.  Come,  give  up." 

He  meekly  obeyed. 

"Come  now,  get  on  your  hat,"  said 
I.  "I  want  you  to  go  out  with  me." 

"What  for,  Jenkins?"  he  almost 
snarled. 

"You'll  see  what  for,"  said  I. 

And  Raffles  Holmes  obeying,  we 
walked  down  to  the  river's  edge, 
where  I  stood  for  a  moment,  and 
then  hurled  the  remaining  stones  far 
out  into  the  waters. 

Holmes  gave  a  gasp  and  then  a 
sigh  of  relief. 

"  There,"  I  said.  "  It  doesn't  mat 
ter  much  to  us  now  whether  the  con 
founded  things  were  real  or  not." 


THE  ADVENTURE  OF  THE  BRASS  CHECK 

JENKINS,"  said  Raffles  Holmes  to 
me  the  other  night  as  we  sat  in 
my  den  looking  over  the  criminal 
news  in  the  evening  papers,  in  search 
of  some  interesting  material  for  him 
to  work  on,  "this  paper  says  that 
Mrs.  Wilbraham  Ward  -  Smythe  has 
gone  to  Atlantic  City  for  a  week,  and 
will  lend  her  gracious  presence  to  the 
social  functions  of  the  Hotel  Garry- 
more,  at  that  interesting  city  by  the 
sea,  until  Monday,  the  2yth,  when  she 
will  depart  for  Chicago,  where  her 
sister  is  to  be  married  on  the  2pth. 
How  would  you  like  to  spend  the 
week  with  me  at  the  Garrymore?" 
"It  all  depends  upon  what  we  are 
89 


R.   Holmes  &   Co. 

going  for/'  said  I.  "Also,  what  in 
thunder  has  Mrs.  Wilbraham  Ward- 
Smythe  got  to  do  with  us,  or  we  with 
her?'' 

" Nothing  at  all,"  said  Holmes. 
"That  is,  nothing  much." 

"Who  is  she?"  I  asked,  eying  him 
suspiciously. 

"All  I  know  is  what  I  have  seen 
in  the  papers,"  said  Holmes.  "She 
came  in  on  the  Altruria  two  weeks 
ago,  and  attracted  considerable  at 
tention  by  declaring  $130,000  worth 
of  pearl  rope  that  she  bought  in  Par 
is,  instead  of,  woman-like,  trying  to 
smuggle  it  through  the  custom-house. 
It  broke  the  heart  of  pretty  nearly 
every  inspector  in  the  service.  She'd 
been  watched  very  carefully  by  the 
detective  bureau  in  Paris,  and  when 
she  purchased  the  rope  there,  the 
news  of  it  was  cabled  over  in  cipher, 
so  that  they'd  all  be  on  the  lookout 
for  it  when  she  came  in.  The  whole 
force  on  the^  pier  was  on  the  qui  vive, 
90 


The  Brass  Check 

and  one  of  the  most  expert  women 
searchers  on  the  pay-roll  was  detailed 
to  give  her  special  attention  the  min 
ute  she  set  foot  on  shore ;  but  instead 
of  doing  as  they  all  believed  she 
would  do,  and  giving  the  inspectors  a 
chance  to  catch  her  at  trying  to  evade 
the  duties,  to  their  very  great  profit, 
she  calmly  and  coolly  declared  the 
stuff,  paid  her  little  sixty-five  per 
cent,  like  a  major,  and  drove  off  to 
the  Castoria  in  full  possession  of  her 
jewels.  The  Collector  of  the  Port  had 
all  he  could  do  to  keep  'em  from  drap 
ing  the  custom-house  for  thirty  days, 
they  were  all  so  grief-stricken.  She'll 
probably  take  the  rope  to  Atlantic 
City  with  her." 

"Aha!"  said  I.  "That's  the  milk 
in  the  cocoanut,  is  it?  You're  after 
that  pearl  rope,  are  you,  Raffles?" 

"On  my  honor  as  a  Holmes,"  said 

he,  "I  am  not.     I  shall  not  touch  the 

pearl  rope,  although  I  have  no  doubt 

that  I  shall  have  some  unhappy  mo- 

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R.  Holmes  &  Co. 

ments  during  the  week  that  I  am  in 
the  same  hotel  with  it.  That's  one 
reason  why  I'd  like  to  have  you  go 
along,  Jenkins — just  to  keep  me  out 
of  temptation.  Raffles  may  need 
more  than  Holmes  to  keep  him  out 
of  mischief.  I  am  confident,  how 
ever,  that  with  you  to  watch  out  for 
me,  I  shall  be  able  to  suppress  the 
strong  tendency  towards  evil  which 
at  times  besets  me." 

"We'd  better  keep  out  of  it  alto 
gether,  Holmes,"  said  I,  not  liking 
the  weight  of  responsibility  for  his 
good  behavior  that  more  than  once 
he  had  placed  on  my  shoulders. 
"You  don't  deny,  I  suppose,  that 
the  pearl  rope  is  a  factor  in  your  in 
tentions,  whatever  they  may  be." 

"Of  course  I  don't,  Jenkins,"  was 
his  response.  "  If  it  were  not  for  her 
pearl  rope,  Mrs.  Wilbraham  Ward- 
Smythe  could  go  anywhere  she 
pleased  without  attracting  any  more 
attention  from  me  than  a  passing  mo- 
92 


The  Brass  Check 

tor-car.  It  would  be  futile  for  me  to 
deny  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
pearl  rope  is  an  essential  part  of  my 
scheme,  and,  even  if  it  were  not  fu 
tile  to  do  so,  I  should  still  not  deny 
it,  because  neither  my  father  nor  my 
grandfather,  Holmes  nor  Raffles,  ever 
forgot  that  a  gentleman  does  not  lie." 

1  'Then  count  me  out,"  said  I. 

"Even  if  there  is  $7500  in  it  for 
you?"  he  said,  with  a  twinkle  in  his 
eye. 

"  If  it  were  $107,500  you  could  still 
count  me  out,"  I  retorted.  "  I  don't 
like  the  business." 

1  'Very  well,"  said  he,  with  a  sigh. 
"  I  shall  have  to  go  alone  and  en 
deavor  to  fight  the  terrible  tempta 
tion  unaided,  with  a  strong  probabil 
ity  that  I  shall  fail,  and,  yielding  to  it, 
commit  my  first  real  act  of  crime, 
and,  in  that  event,  with  the  possibility 
of  a  term  at  Trenton  prison,  if  I  am 
caught." 

"Give  it  up,  Raffles,"  I  pleaded. 
93 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

"And  all  because,  in  the  hour  of 
my  need,  my  best  friend,  whose  aid 
I  begged,  refused  me/'  he  went  on, 
absolutely  ignoring  my  plea. 

"Oh,  well,  if  you  put  it  on  that 
score,"  I  said,  "I'll  go — but  you  must 
promise  me  not  to  touch  the  pearls." 

"  I'll  do  my  best  not  to,"  he  replied. 
"As  usual,  you  have  carte-blanche  to 
put  me  out  of  business  if  you  catch 
me  trying  it." 

With  this  understanding  I  accom 
panied  Raffles  Holmes  to  Atlantic 
City  the  following  afternoon,  and  the 
following  evening  we  were  registered 
at  the  Hotel  Garrymore. 

Holmes  was  not  mistaken  in  his 
belief  that  Mrs.  Wilbraham  Ward- 
Smythe  would  take  her  famous  pearl 
rope  to  Atlantic  City  with  her.  That 
very  evening,  while  we  were  sitting 
at  dinner,  the  lady  entered,  and 
draped  about  her  stately  neck  and 
shoulders  was  the  thing  itself,  and  a 
more  beautiful  decoration  was  never 
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The  Brass   Check 

worn  by  woman  from  the  days  of  the 
Queen  of  Sheba  to  this  day  of  lavish 
display  in  jewels.  It  was  a  marvel, 
indeed,  but  the  moment  I  saw  it  I 
ceased  to  give  the  lady  credit  for 
superior  virtue  in  failing  to  smuggle 
it  through  the  custom-house,  for  its 
very  size  would  have  precluded  the 
possibility  of  a  successful  issue  to  any 
such  attempted  evasion  of  the  law. 
It  was  too  bulky  to  have  been  secreted 
in  any  of  the  ordinary  ways  known 
to  smugglers.  Hence  her  candid  ac 
knowledgment  of  its  possession  was 
less  an  evidence  of  the  lady's  superior 
ity  to  the  majority  of  her  sex  in  the 
matter  of  " beating  the  government" 
than  of  her  having  been  confronted 
with  the  proverbial  choice  of  the  un 
identified  Hobson. 

"  By  Jove !  Jenkins, "  Raffles  Holmes 
muttered,  hoarsely,  as  Mrs.  Ward- 
Smythe  paraded  the  length  of  the  din 
ing-room,  as  fairly  confiscating  with 
her  rich  possessions  as  though  she 
95 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

were  a  jeweller's  window  incarnate, 
"it's  a  positive  crime  for  a  woman  to 
appear  in  a  place  like  this  arrayed 
like  that.  What  right  has  she  to 
subject  poor  weak  humanity  to  such 
temptation  as  now  confronts  every 
servant  in  this  hotel,  to  say  nothing 
of  guests,  who,  like  ourselves,  are 
made  breathless  with  such  lavish 
display?  There's  poor  old  Tommie 
Bankson  over  there,  for  instance. 
See  how  he  gloats  over  those  pearls. 
He's  fairly  red-eyed  over  them." 

I  glanced  across  the  dining-room, 
and  sure  enough,  there  sat  Tommie 
Bankson,  and  even  from  where  we 
were  placed  we  could  see  his  hands 
tremble  with  the  itch  for  possession, 
and  his  lips  go  dry  with  excitement 
as  he  thought  of  the  material  assets 
in  full  view  under  the  glare  of  the 
dining-room  electric  lights. 

"  I  happen  to  know  on  the  inside," 
continued  Holmes,  "that  Tommie  is 
not  only  a  virtual  bankrupt  through 


The  Brass   Check 

stock  speculation,  but  is  actually  face 
to  face  with  criminal  disgrace  for  mis 
use  of  trust  funds,  all  of  which  he 
could  escape  if  he  could  lay  his  hands 
upon  half  the  stuff  that  woman  is  so 
carelessly  wearing  to-night.  Do  you 
think  it's  fair  to  wear,  for  the  mere 
gratification  of  one's  vanity,  things 
that  arouse  in  the  hearts  of  less  fortu 
nate  beings  such  passionate  reflections 
and  such  dire  temptations  as  those 
which  are  now  besetting  that  man?" 

"I  guess  we've  got  enough  to  do 
looking  after  Raffles  to-night,  old 
man,  without  wasting  any  of  our 
nerve-tissue  on  Tommie  Bankson,"  I 
replied.  "Come  on — let's  get  out  of 
this.  We'll  go  over  to  the  Pentagon 
for  the  night,  and  to-morrow  we'll 
shake  the  sands  of  Atlantic  City  from 
our  feet  and  hie  ourselves  back  to 
New  York,  where  the  temptations  are 
not  so  strong." 

"  It's  too  late,"  said  Raffles  Holmes. 
"  I've  set  out  on  this  adventure  and 
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R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

I'm  going  to  put  it  through.  I 
wouldn't  give  up  in  the  middle  of 
an  enterprise  of  this  sort  any  more 
than  I  would  let  a  balky  horse  refuse 
to  take  a  fence  I'd  put  him  to.  It's 
going  to  be  harder  than  I  thought, 
but  we're  in  it,  and  I  shall  stay  to 
the  end." 

"What  the  devil  is  the  adventure, 
anyhow?"  I  demanded,  impatiently. 
"You  vowed  you  wouldn't  touch  the 
rope." 

"I  hope  not  to,"  was  his  response. 
"It  is  up  to  you  to  see  that  I  don't. 
My  plan  does  not  involve  my  laying 
hands  upon  even  the  shadow  of  it." 

So  we  stayed  on  at  the  Garry  more, 
and  a  worse  week  I  never  had  any 
where.  With  every  glimpse  of  that 
infernal  jewel  the  Raffles  in  Holmes 
became  harder  and  harder  to  control. 
In  the  daytime  he  was  all  right,  but 
when  night  came  on  he  was  feverish 
with  the  desire  to  acquire  possession 
of  the  pearls.  Twice  in  the  middle  of 
98 


The  Brass  Check 

the  night  I  caught  him  endeavoring 
to  sneak  out  of  our  room,  and  upon 
each  occasion,  when  I  rushed  after 
him  and  forced  him  back,  he  made 
no  denial  of  my  charge  that  he  was 
going  after  the  jewel.  The  last  time 
it  involved  us  both  in  such  a  terrible 
struggle  that  I  vowed  then  and  there 
that  the  following  morning  should  see 
my  departure. 

"  I  can't  stand  the  strain,  Holmes," 
said  I. 

"Well,  if  you  can't  stand  your 
strain,"  said  Raffles  Holmes,  "what 
do  you  think  of  mine?" 

"The  thing  to  do  is  to  get  out, 
that's  all,"  I  retorted.  "I  won't 
have  a  nerve  left  in  twenty-four  hours. 
For  four  nights  now  I  haven't  had  a 
minute's  normal  sleep,  and  this  fight 
you've  just  put  up  has  regularly 
knocked  me  out." 

"One    more    day     Jenkins,'      he 
pleaded.     "She   goes   day   after   to 
morrow,  and  so  do  we." 
s  99 


R.   Holmes  &  Co. 

"We?"  I  cried.     "After  her?" 

"Nope  —  she  to  Chicago — we  to 
New  York,"  said  Holmes.  "Stick 
it  out,  there's  a  good  fellow,"  and 
of  course  I  yielded. 

The  next  day — Sunday — was  one 
of  feverish  excitement,  but  we  got 
through  it  without  mishap,  and  on 
Monday  morning  it  was  with  a  sigh 
of  relief  that  I  saw  Mrs.  Wilbraham 
Ward-Smythe  pull  out  of  the  Phila 
delphia  station  en  route  for  Chicago, 
while  Raffles  Holmes  and  I  returned 
to  New  York. 

"Well,  Raffles,"  said  I,  as  we  sped 
on  our  homeward  way,  "we've  had 
our  trouble  for  our  pains." 

He  laughed  crisply.  "Have  we?" 
said  he.  "I  guess  not — not  unless 
you  have  lost  the  trunk  check  the 
porter  gave  you." 

"What,  this  brass  thing?"  I  de 
manded,  taking  the  check  from  my 
pocket  and  flicking  it  in  the  air  like 
a  penny. 

100 


"l  RUSHED  AFTER  HIM  AND  FORCED  HIM  BACK" 


The  Brass   Check 

"That  very  brass  thing,"  said 
Holmes. 

"You  haven't  lifted  that  damned 
rope  and  put  it  in  my  trunk!"  I 
roared. 

"Hush,  Jenkins!  For  Heaven's 
sake  don't  make  a  scene.  I  haven't 
done  anything  of  the  sort,"  he  whis 
pered,  looking  about  him  anxiously 
to  make  sure  that  we  had  not  been 
overheard.  "Those  pearls  are  as 
innocent  of  my  touch  as  the  top  of 
the  Himalaya  Mountains  is  of  yours." 

"Then  what  have  you  done?"  I 
demanded,  sulkily. 

"Just  changed  a  couple  of  trunk 
checks ,  that 's  all ,"  said  Raffles  Holmes . 
"That  bit  of  brass  you  have  in  your 
hand,  which  was  handed  to  you  in 
the  station  by  the  porter  of  the 
Garry  more,  when  presented  at  Jersey 
City  will  put  you  in  possession  of  Mrs. 
Wilbraham  Ward  -  Smythe's  trunk, 
containing  the  bulk  of  her  jewels. 
She's  a  trifle  careless  about  her  pos- 

101 


R.    Holmes   &    Co. 

sessions,  as  any  one  could  see  who 
watched  the  nonchalant  way  in  which 
she  paraded  the  board  walk  with  a 
small  fortune  on  her  neck  and  fingers. 
Most  women  would  carry  such  things 
in  a  small  hand-satchel,  or  at  least 
have  the  trunk  sent  by  registered 
express,  but  not  Mrs.  Wilbraham 
Ward-Smythe;  and,  thanks  to  her 
loud  voice,  listening  outside  of  her 
door  last  night,  I  heard  her  directing 
her  maid  where  she  wished  the  gems 
packed." 

"And  where  the  dickens  is  my 
trunk?"  I  asked. 

"On  the  way  to  Chicago,"  said 
Raffles  Holmes,  calmly.  "  Mrs.  Wil 
braham  Ward-Smythe  has  the  check 
for  it." 

"  Safe  business!"!  sneered.  "Bribed 
the  porter,  I  presume?" 

"Jenkins,  you  are  exceedingly  un 
complimentary  at  times,"  said  Raffles 
Holmes,  showing  more  resentment 
than  I  had  ever  given  him  credit  for. 

102 


The  Brass   Check 

"  Perhaps  you  observed  that  I  didn't 
go  to  the  station  in  the  omnibus." 

"No,  you  went  over  to  the  drug 
store  after  some  phenacetine  for  your 
headache,"  said  I. 

"Precisely,"  said  Holmes,  "and 
after  purchasing  the  phenacetine  I 
jumped  aboard  the  Garrymore  ex 
press-wagon  and  got  a  lift  over  to 
the  station.  It  was  during  that  ride 
that  I  transferred  Mrs. Ward -Smyt he's 
check  from  her  trunk  to  yours,  and 
vice  versa.  It's  one  of  the  easiest  jobs 
in  the  Raffles  business,  especially  at 
this  season  of  the  year,  when  travel 
is  heavy  and  porters  are  over 
worked." 

"I'll  see  the  trunk  in  the  Hudson 
River,  pearl  rope  and  all,  before  I'll 
claim  it  at  Jersey  City  or  anywhere 
else,"  said  I. 

"Perfectly  right,"  Holmes  return 
ed.  "We'll  hand  the  check  to  the 
expressman  when  he  comes  through 
the  train,  and  neither  of  us  need  ap- 
103 


R.   Holmes  &  Co. 

pear  further  in  the  matter.  It  will 
merely  be  delivered  at  your  apart 
ment." 

"Why  not  yours?"  said  I. 

"Raffles!"  said  he,  laconically,  and 
I  understood. 

"And  then  what?"  I  asked. 

"Let  it  alone,  unopened,  safe  as  a 
church,  until  Mrs.  Wilbraham  Ward- 
Smythe  discovers  her  loss,  which 
will  be  to  -  morrow  afternoon,  and 
then—" 

"Well?" 

"Mr.  Holmes  will  step  in,  unravel 
the  mystery,  prove  it  to  be  a  mere 
innocent  mistake,  collect  about  ten 
or  fifteen  thousand  dollars  reward, 
divvy  up  with  you,  and  the  decks 
will  be  cleared  for  what  turns  up 
next,"  said  this  wonderful  player  of 
dangerous  games.  "  And,  as  a  begin 
ning,  Jenkins,  please  sign  this,"  he 
added. 

Holmes  handed  me  a  typewritten- 
letter  which  read  as  follows  : 
104 


The    Brass    Check 

"THE  RICHMORE,  June  30, 
"Raffles  Holmes,  Esq.. 

"DEAR  SIR, — I  enclose  herewith  my 
check  for  $1000  as  a  retainer  for  your 
services  in  locating  for  me  a  missing 
trunk,  which  contains  articles  which  I 
value  at  $10,000.  This  trunk  was  check 
ed  through  to  New  York  from  Atlantic 
City  on  Monday  last,  9.40  train,  and  has 
not  since  been  found.  Whether  or  not  it 
has  been  stolen,  or  has  gone  astray  in 
some  wholly  innocent  manner,  is  not  as 
yet  clear.  I  know  of  no  one  better 
equipped  for  the  task  of  finding  it  for  me 
than  yourself,  who,  I  am  given  to  under 
stand,  are  the  son  of  the  famous  Sherlock 
Holmes  of  England.  The  check  repre 
sents  the  ten  per  cent,  commission  on  the 
value  of  the  lost  articles,  which  I  believe 
is  the  customary  fee  for  services  such  as 
I  seek.  Very  truly  yours." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with 
this?"  I  demanded. 

"Send  it  as  an  enclosure  to  Mrs. 
Wilbraham  Ward  -  Smy the,  showing 
my  credentials  as  your  agent,  in  ask 
ing  her  if  by  any  mischance  your 
105 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

trunk  has  got  mixed  in  with  her  lug 
gage,"  observed  Holmes.  "  For  form's 
sake,  I  shall  send  it  to  twenty  or 
thirty  other  people  known  to  have 
left  Atlantic  City  the  same  day. 
Moreover,  it  will  suggest  the  idea  to 
Mrs.  Wilbraham  Ward-Smythe  that 
I  am  a  good  man  to  locate  her  trunk 
also,  and  the  delicate  intimation  of 
my  terms  will — 

"Aha!  I  see,"  said  I.  "And  my 
thousand -dollar  check  to  you?" 

"  I  shall,  of  course,  keep,"  observed 
Holmes.  "  You  want  the  whole  busi 
ness  to  be  bona  fide,  don't  you?  It 
would  be  unscrupulous  for  you  to  ask 
for  its  return." 

I  didn't  exactly  like  the  idea,  but, 
after  all,  there  was  much  in  what 
Holmes  said,  and  the  actual  risk  of 
my  own  capital  relieved  my  con 
science  of  the  suspicion  that  by  sign 
ing  the  letter  I  should  become  a  part 
ner  in  a  confidence  game.  Hence  I 
signed  the  note,  mailed  it  to  Raffles 
106 


The    Brass    Check 

Holmes,  enclosing  my  check  for  $1000 
with  it. 

Three  days  later  Holmes  entered  my 
room  with  a  broad  grin  on  his  face. 

" How's  this  for  business?"  said  he, 
handing  me  a  letter  he  had  received 
that  morning  from  Chicago. 

"DEAR  SIR, — I  am  perfectly  delighted 
to  receive  your  letter  of  July  i.  I  think 
I  have  Mr.  Jenkins's  missing  trunk.  What 
pleases  me  most,  however,  is  the  possibility 
of  your  recovering  mine,  which  also  went 
astray  at  the  same  time.  It  contained 
articles  of  even  greater  value  than  Mr. 
Jenkins's — my  pearl  rope,  among  other 
things,  which  is  appraised  at  $130,000. 
Do  you  think  there  is  any  chance  of  your 
recovering  it  for  me  ?  I  enclose  my  check 
for  $5000  as  a  retainer.  The  balance  of 
your  ten  per  cent,  fee  I  shall  gladly  pay 
on  receipt  of  my  missing  luggage. 
"Most  sincerely  yours, 

"MAUDE  WARD-SMYTHE." 

"  I  rather  think,  my  dear  Jenkins," 
observed  Raffles  Holmes,    "that  we 
have  that  $13,000  reward  cinched." 
107 


R.  Holmes  &    Co. 

"There's  $7000  for  you,  Jenkins," 
said  Holmes,  a  week  later,  handing 
me  his  check  for  that  amount.  "  Easy 
money  that.  It  only  took  two  weeks 
to  turn  the  trick,  and  $14,000  for 
fourteen  days'  work  is  pretty  fair  pay. 
If  we  could  count  on  that  for  a  steady 
income  I  think  I'd  be  able  to  hold 
Raffles  down  without  your  assist 
ance/ 

"  You  got  fourteen  thousand,  eh?" 
said  I.  "  I  thought  it  was  only  to  be 
$13,000." 

"  It  was  fourteen  thousand  count 
ing  in  your  $1000,"  said  Raffles 
Holmes.  "You  see,  I'm  playing  on 
the  square,  old  man.  Half  and  half 
in  everything." 

I  squeezed  his  hand  affection 
ately. 

"  But — he-ew!"  I  ejaculated,  with  a 
great  feeling  of  relief.  "I'm  glad  the 
thing's  over  with." 

"So  am  I,"  said  Holmes,  with  a 
glitter  in  his  eye.  "  If  we'd  kept  that 
108 


The    Brass    Check 

trunk  in  this  apartment  another  day 
there 'd  have  been  trouble.  I  had  a 
piece  of  lead-pipe  up  my  sleeve  when 
I  called  here  Tuesday  night." 

"What  for?"  I  asked. 

"You!"  said  Raffles  Holmes.  "If 
you  hadn't  had  that  poker-party  with 
you  I'd  have  knocked  you  out  and 
gone  to  China  with  the  Ward-Smythe 
jewels.  Sherlock  Holmes  stock  was 
'way  below  par  Tuesday  night." 


VI 

THE  ADVENTURE  OP  THE  HIRED 
BURGLAR 

I  HAD  not  seen  Raffles  Holmes  for 
some  weeks,  nor  had  I  heard  from 
him,  although  I  had  faithfully  re 
mitted  to  his  address  his  share  of  the 
literary  proceeds  of  his  adventures  as 
promptly  as  circumstances  permitted 
— $600  on  the  first  tale,  $920  on  the 
second,  and  no  less  than  $1800  on  the 
third,  showing  a  constantly  growing 
profit  on  our  combination  from  my 
side  of  the  venture.  These  checks 
had  not  even  been  presented  for  pay 
ment  at  the  bank.  Fearing  from  this 
that  he  might  be  ill,  I  called  at 
Holmes's  lodgings  in  the  Rexmere, 
a  well-established  bachelor  apartment 
no 


The  Hired  Burglar 

hotel,  on  Forty-fourth  Street,  to  in 
quire  as  to  the  state  of  his  health. 
The  clerk  behind  the  desk  greeted  me 
cordially  as  I  entered,  and  bade  me 
go  at  once  to  Holmes 's  apartment  on 
the  eighteenth  floor,  which  I  imme 
diately  proceeded  to  do. 

"Here  is  Mr.  Holmes's  latch-key, 
sir,"  said  the  clerk.  "He  told  me 
you  were  to  have  access  to  his  apart 
ment  at  any  time." 

"He  is  in,  is  he?"  I  asked. 

"  I  really  don't  know,  sir.  I  will 
call  up  and  inquire,  if  you  wish,"  re 
plied  the  clerk. 

"Oh,  never  mind,"  said  I.  "I'll 
go  up,  anyhow,  and  if  he  is  out,  I'll 
wait." 

So  up  I  went,  and  a  few  moments 
later  had  entered  the  apartment.  As 
the  door  opened,  the  little  private 
hallway  leading  to  his  den  at  the  rear 
burst  into  a  flood  of  light,  and  from 
an  inner  room,  the  entrance  to  which 
was  closed,  I  could  hear  Holmes's 
in 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

voice  cheerily  carolling  out  snatches 
of  such  popular  airs  as  ''Tammany" 
and  "Ef  Yo'  Habn't  Got  No  Money 
Yo'  Needn't  Bodder  Me." 

I  laughed  quietly  and  at  the  same 
time  breathed  a  sigh  of  relief.  It  was 
very  evident  from  the  tone  of  his 
voice  that  there  was  nothing  serious 
the  matter  with  my  friend  and 
partner. 

"Hullo,  Raffles!"  I  called  out, 
knocking  on  the  door  to  the  inner 
room. 

"  Tam-ma-nee,  Tarn-ma-nee; 
Swampum,  swampum, 
Get  their  wampum, 
Tam-ma-nee" 

was  the  sole  answer,  and  in  such 
fortissimo  tones  that  I  was  not  sur 
prised  that  he  did  not  hear  me. 

"Oh,  I  say,  Raffles,"  I  hallooed, 
rapping  on  the  door  again,  this  time 
with  the  head  of  my  cane.  "It's 
Jenkins,  old  man.  Came  to  look  you 

112 


The  Hired  Burglar 

up.     Was  afraid  something  had  hap 
pened  to  you." 

"Way  down  upon  the  Suwanee  River, 

Far,  far  away, 

Dere's  whar  my  heart  am  turnin'  ever, 
Dere's  whar  de  ole  folks  stay,1' 

was  the  reply. 

Again  I  laughed. 

"He's  suffering  from  a  bad  attack 
of  coonitis  this  evening,"  I  observed 
to  myself.  "Looks  to  me  as  if  I'd 
have  to  let  it  run  its  course." 

Whereupon  I  retired  to  a  very 
comfortable  couch  near  the  window 
and  sat  down  to  await  the  termina 
tion  of  the  musical. 

Five  minutes  later  the  singing  hav 
ing  shown  no  signs  of  abatement  I 
became  impatient,  and  a  third  assault 
on  the  door  followed,  this  time  with 
cane,  hands,  and  toes  in  unison. 

"I'll  have  him  out  this  time  or 
die!"  I  ejaculated,  filled  with  resolve, 
and  then  began  such  a  pounding  upon 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

the  door  as  should  have  sufficed  to 
awake  a  dead  Raffles,  not  to  mention 
a  living  one. 

"Hi,  there,  Jenkins!"  cried  a  voice 
behind  me,  in  the  midst  of  this  opera 
tion,  identically  the  same  voice,  too, 
as  that  still  going  on  in  the  room  in 
front  of  me.  "  What  the  dickens  are 
you  trying  to  do — batter  the  house 
down?" 

I  whirled  about  like  a  flash,  and 
was  deeply  startled  to  see  Raffles 
himself  standing  by  the  divan  I  had 
just  vacated,  divesting  himself  of  his 
gloves  and  light  overcoat. 

"You — Raffles?"  I  roared  in  aston 
ishment. 

"Yep,"  said  he.     "Who  else?" 

"But  the — the  other  chap — in  the 
room  there?" 

"Oh,"  laughed  Raffles.  "That's 
my  alibi-prover — hold  on  a  minute 
and  I'll  show  you." 

Whereupon  he  unlocked  the  door 
into  the  bedroom,  whence  had  come 
114 


The  Hired   Burglar 

the  tuneful  lyrics,  threw  it  wide  open, 
and  -revealed  to  my  astonished  gaze 
no  less  an  object  than  a  large  talking- 
machine  still  engaged  in  the  strenuous 
fulfilment  of  its  noisy  mission. 

"What  the  dickens!"  I  said. 

"It's  attached  to  my  front-door," 
said  Raffles,  silencing  the  machine. 
"The  minute  the  door  is  opened  it 
begins  to  sing  like  the  f our- and  - 
twenty  blackbirds  baked  in  a  pie." 

"  But  what  good  is  it?"  said  I. 

"Oh,  well — it  keeps  the  servants 
from  spending  too  much  time  in  my 
apartment,  snooping  among  my  pa 
pers,  perhaps;  and  it  may  some  day 
come  in  useful  in  establishing  an  alibi 
if  things  go  wrong  with  me.  You'd 
have  sworn  I  was  in  there  just  now, 
wouldn't  you?" 

"I  would  indeed,"  said  I. 

."Well — you  see,  I  wasn't,  so  there 
you  are,"  said  Raffles  Holmes.  "  By- 
the-way,  you've  come  at  an  interest 
ing  moment.  There'll  be  things  do- 
115 


R.   Holmes  &   Co. 

ing  before  the  evening  is  over.  I've 
had  an  anxious  caller  here  five  times 
already  to-day.  I've  been  standing 
in  the  barber-shop  opposite  getting 
a  line  on  him.  His  card  name  is 
Grouch,  his  real  name  is — 

Here  Raffles  Holmes  leaned  for 
ward  and  whispered  in  my  ear  a 
name  of  such  eminent  respectability 
that  I  fairly  gasped. 

"  You  don't  mean  the  Mr.  - 

"  Nobody  else,  "said  Raffles  Holmes. 
"  Only  he  don't  know  I  know  who  he 
is.  The  third  time  Grouch  called  I 
trailed  him  to  Blank's  house,  and 
then  recognized  him  as  Blank  him 
self." 

"And  what  does  he  want  with 
you?"  I  asked. 

"That  remains  to  be  seen,"  said 
Raffles  Holmes.  "All  I  know  is  that 
next  Tuesday  he  will  be  required  to 
turn  over  $100,000  unregistered  bonds 
to  a  young  man  about  to  come  of  age, 
for  whom  he  has  been  a  trustee." 
116 


The  Hired    Burglar 

"  Aha!"  said  I.    "  And  you  think—" 

"I  don't  think,  Jenkins,  until  the 
time  conies.  Gray  matter  is  scarce 
these  times,  and  I'm  not  wasting  any 
of  mine  on  unnecessary  speculation," 
said  Raffles  Holmes. 

At  this  point  the  telephone  -  bell 
rang  and  Raffles  answered  the  sum 
mons. 

"Yes,  I'll  see  Mr.  Grouch.  Show 
him  up,"  he  said.  "It  would  be 
mighty  interesting  reading  if  some 
newspaper  showed  him  up,"  he  add 
ed,  with  a  grin,  as  he  returned.  "  By- 
the  -  way,  Jenkins,  I  think  you'd 
better  go  in  there  and  have  a  half- 
hour's  chat  with  the  talking-machine. 
I  have  an  idea  old  man  Grouch  won't 
have  much  to  say  with  a  third  party 
present.  Listen  all  you  want  to,  but 
don't  breathe  too  loud  or  you'll 
frighten  him  away." 

I  immediately  retired,  and  a  mo 
ment  later  Mr.  Grouch  entered  Raffles 
Holmes's  den. 

117 


R.   Holmes  &  Co. 

"Glad  to  see  you,"  said  Raffles 
Holmes,  cordially.  "I  was  wonder 
ing  how  soon  you'd  be  here." 

"You  expected  me,  then?"  asked 
the  visitor,  in  surprise. 

"  Yes, "  said  Holmes.  "  Next  Tues 
day  is  young  Wilbraham's  twenty- 
first  birthday,  and — " 

Peering  through  a  crack  in  the  door 
I  could  see  Grouch  stagger. 

"You  —  you  know  my  errand, 
then?"  he  gasped  out. 

"Only  roughly,  Mr.  Grouch,"  said 
Holmes,  coolly.  "  Only  roughly.  But 
I  am  very  much  afraid  that  I  can't 
do  what  you  want  me  to.  Those 
bonds  are  doubtless  in  some  broker's 
box  in  a  safe-deposit  company,  and 
I  don't  propose  to  try  to  borrow 
them  surreptitiously,  even  tempora 
rily,  from  an  incorporated  institu 
tion.  It  is  not  only  a  dangerous  but 
a  criminal  operation.  Does  your  em 
ployer  know  that  you  have  taken 
them?" 

118 


The  Hired  Burglar 

"  My  employer  ?"  stammered  Grouch, 
taken  off  his  guard. 

''Yes.  Aren't  you  the  confidential 
secretary  of  Mr.  -  —  ? "  Here  Holmes 
mentioned  the  name  of  the  eminent 
financier  and  philanthropist.  No  one 
would  have  suspected,  from  the  tone 
of  his  voice,  that  Holmes  was  per 
fectly  aware  that  Grouch  and  the 
eminent  financier  were  one  and  the 
same  person.  The  idea  seemed  to 
please  and  steady  the  visitor. 

"  Why — ah — yes — I  am  Mr.  Blank's 
confidential  secretary,"  he  blurted 
out.  "  And — ah — of  course  Mr.  Blank 
does  not  know  that  I  have  speculated 
with  the  bonds  and  lost  them." 

"  The  bonds  are— " 

"  In  the  hands  of  Bunker  &  Burke. 
I  had  hoped  you  would  be  able  to 
suggest  some  way  in  which  I  could 
get  hold  of  them  long  enough  to  turn 
them  over  to  young  Wilbraham,  and 
then,  in  some  other  way,  to  restore 
them  later  to  Bunker  &  Burke." 
119 


R.   Holmes   &  Co. 

"That  is  impossible,"  said  Raffles 
Holmes.  "For  the  reasons  stated,  I 
cannot  be  a  party  to  a  criminal  oper 
ation." 

"It  will  mean  ruin  for  me  if  it 
cannot  be  done,"  moaned  Grouch. 
''For  Mr.  Blank  as  well,  Mr.  Holmes; 
he  is  so  deep  in  the  market  he  can't 
possibly  pull  out.  I  thought  possibly 
you  knew  of  some  reformed  cracks 
man  who  would  do  this  one  favor  for 
me  just  to  tide  things  over.  All  we 
need  is  three  weeks'  time — three  mis 
erable  little  weeks." 

"Can't  be  done  with  a  safe-deposit 
company  at  the  other  end  of  the  line," 
said  Raffles  Holmes.  "  If  it  were  Mr. 
Blank's  own  private  vault  at  his  home 
it  would  be  different.  That  would  be 
a  matter  between  gentlemen,  between 
Mr.  Blank  and  myself,  but  the  other 
would  put  a  corporation  on  the  trail 
of  the  safe -breaker — an  uncompro 
mising  situation." 

Grouch's  eye  glistened. 

120 


The    Hired    Burglar 

"  You  know  a  man  who,  for  a  con 
sideration  and  with  a  guarantee 
.against  prosecution,  would  break  open 
my  —  I  mean  Mr.  Blank's  private 
vault?'*  he  cried. 

"I  think  so,"  said  Raffles  Holmes, 
noncommit tally.  "Not  as  a  crime, 
however,  merely  as  a  favor,  and  with 
the  lofty  purpose  of  saving  an  hon 
ored  name  from  ruin.  My  advice  to 
you  would  be  to  put  a  dummy  pack 
age,  supposed  to  contain  the  missing 
bonds,  along  with  about  $30,000 
worth  of  other  securities  in  that  vault, 
and  so  arrange  matters  that  on  the 
night  preceding  the  date  of  young 
Wilbraham's  majority,  the  man  I  will 
send  you  shall  have  the  opportunity 
to  crack  it  open  and  get  away  with 
the  stuff  unmolested  and  unseen. 
Next  day  young  Wilbraham  will  see 
for  himself  why  it  is  that  Mr.  Blank 
cannot  turn  over  his  trust.  That  is 
the  only  secure  and  I  may  say  decent 
ly  honest  way  out  of  your  trouble." 

121 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

"Mr.  Raffles  Holmes,  you  are  a 
genius!"  cried  Grouch,  ecstatically. 
And  then  he  calmed  down  again  as 
an  unpleasant  thought  flashed  across 
his  mind.  "Why  is  it  necessary  to 
put  $30,000  additional  in  the  safe,  Mr. 
Holmes?" 

"Simply  as  a  blind,"  said  Holmes. 
"Young  Wilbraham  would  be  suspi 
cious  if  the  burglar  got  away  with  noth 
ing  but  his  property,  wouldn't  he?" 

"Quite  so,"  said  Grouch.  "And 
now,  Mr.  Holmes,  what  will  this  ser 
vice  cost  me?" 

"Five  thousand  dollars,"  said 
Holmes. 

"Phe-e-e-w!"  whistled  Grouch. 
"Isn't  that  pretty  steep?" 

"No,  Mr.  Grouch.  I  save  two 
reputations — yours  and  Mr.  Blank's. 
Twenty-five  hundred  dollars  is  not 
much  to  pay  for  a  reputation  these 
days — I  mean  a  real  one,  of  course, 
such  as  yours  is  up  to  date,"  said 
Holmes,  coldly. 

122 


The  Hired    Burglar 

"Payable  by  certified  check?"  said 
Grouch. 

"Not  much,"  laughed  Holmes. 
"In  twenty-dollar  bills,  Mr.  Grouch. 
You  may  leave  them  in  the  safe  along 
with  the  other  valuables." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Holmes,"  said 
Grouch,  rising.  "It  shall  be  as  you 
say.  Before  I  go,  sir,  may  I  ask  how 
you  knew  me  and  by  what  principle 
of  deduction  you  came  to  guess  my 
business  so  accurately?" 

"It  was  simple  enough,"  said 
Holmes.  "  I  knew,  in  the  first  place, 
that  so  eminent  a  person  as  Mr, 
Blank  would  not  come  to  me  in  the 
guise  of  a  Mr.  Grouch  if  he  hadn't 
some  very  serious  trouble  on  his 
mind.  I  knew,  from  reading  the 
society  items  in  the  Whir  aid,  that 
Mr.  Bobby  Wilbraham  would  cele 
brate  the  attainment  of  his  majority 
by  a  big  fete  on  the  iyth  of  next 
month.  Everybody  knows  that  Mr. 
Blank  is  Mr.  Wilbraham 's  trustee 
123 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

until  he  comes  of  age.  It  was  easy 
enough  to  surmise  from  that  what 
the  nature  of  the  trouble  was.  Two 
and  two  almost  invariably  make  four, 
Mr.  Grouch." 

"And  how  the  devil,"  demanded 
Grouch,  angrily — "  how  the  devil  did 
you  know  I  was  Blank?" 

"Mr.  Blank  passes  the  plate  at  the 
church  I  go  to  every  Sunday,"  said 
Holmes,  laughing,  "  and  it  would  take 
a  great  sight  more  than  a  two-dollar 
wig  and  a  pair  of  fifty-cent  whiskers 
to  conceal  that  pompous  manner  of 
his." 

"Tush!  You  would  better  not 
make  me  angry,  Mr.  Holmes,"  said 
Grouch,  reddening. 

"You  can  get  as  angry  as  you 
think  you  can  afford  to,  for  all  I 
care,  Mr.  Blank,"  said  Holmes.  "  It's 
none  of  my  funeral,  you  know." 

And  so  the  matter  was  settled. 
The  unmasked  Blank,  seeing  that 
wrath  was  useless,  calmed  down  and 
124 


The    Hired  Burglar 

accepted  Holmes's  terms  and  method 
for  his  relief. 

"I'll  have  my  man  there  at  4 
A.M.,  October  zyth,  Mr.  Blank,"  said 
Holmes.  "See  that  your  end  of  it 
is  ready.  The  coast  must  be  kept 
clear  or  the  scheme  falls  through." 

Grouch  went  heavily  out,  and 
Holmes  called  me  back  into  the 
room. 

"Jenkins,"  said  he,  "that  man  is 
one  of  the  biggest  scoundrels  in 
creation,  and  I'm  going  to  give  him 
a  jolt." 

"Where  are  you  going  to  get  the 
retired  burglar?"  I  asked. 

"Sir,"  returned  Raffles  Holmes, 
"  this  is  to  be  a  personally  conducted 
enterprise.  It's  a  job  worthy  of  my 
grandsire  on  my  mother's  side.  Raf 
fles  will  turn  the  trick." 

And  it  turned  out  so  to  be,  for  the 
affair  went  through  without  a  hitch. 
The  night  of  October  1 6th  I  spent  at 
Raffles's  apartments.  He  was  as 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

calm  as  though  nothing  unusual  were 
on  hand.  He  sang  songs,  played  the 
piano,  and  up  to  midnight  was  as 
gay  and  skittish  as  a  school-boy  on 
vacation.  As  twelve  o'clock  struck, 
however,  he  sobered  down,  put  on 
his  hat  and  coat,  and,  bidding  -me 
remain  where  I  was,  departed  by 
means  of  the  fire-escape. 

"Keep  up  the  talk,  Jenkins,"  he 
said.  "The  walls  are  thin  here,  and 
it's  just  as  well,  in  matters  of  this 
sort,  that  our  neighbors  should  have 
the  impression  that  I  have  not  gone 
out.  I've  filled  the  machine  up  with 
a  choice  lot  of  songs  and  small-talk 
to  take  care  of  my  end  of  it.  A  con 
solidated  gas  company,  like  yourself, 
should  have  no  difficulty  in  filling  in 
the  gaps." 

And  with  that  he  left  me  to  as 
merry  and  withal  as  nervous  a  three 
hours  as  I  ever  spent  in  my  life. 
Raffles  had  indeed  filled  that  talking- 
machine — thirteen  full  cylinders  of  it 
126 


The  Hired  Burglar 

— with  as  choice  an  assortment  of 
causerie  and  humorous  anecdotes  as 
any  one  could  have  wished  to  hear. 
Now  and  again  it  would  bid  me 
cheer  up  and  not  worry  about  him. 
Once,  along  about  2  A.M.,  it  cried  out: 
"You  ought  to  see  me  now,  Jenkins. 
I'm  right  in  the  middle  of  this  Grouch 
job,  and  it's  a  dandy.  I'll  teach  him 
a  lesson."  The  effect  of  all  this  was 
most  uncanny.  It  was  as  if  Raffles 
Holmes  himself  spoke  to  me  from  the 
depths  of  that  dark  room  in  the 
Blank  household,  where  he  was  en 
gaged  in  an  enterprise  of  dreadful 
risk  merely  to  save  the  good  name 
of  one  who  no  longer  deserved  to 
bear  such  a  thing.  In  spite  of  all 
this,  however,  as  the  hours  passed  I 
began  to  grow  more  and  more  ner 
vous.  The  talking-machine  sang  and 
chattered,  but  when  four  o'clock 
came  and  Holmes  had  not  yet  re 
turned,  I  became  almost  frenzied 
with  excitement  —  and  then  at  the 
127 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

climax  of  the  tension  came  the  flash 
of  his  dark-lantern  on  the  fire-escape, 
and  he  climbed  heavily  into  the  room. 

" Thank  Heaven  you're  back,"  I 
cried. 

"  You  have  reason  to, "  said  Holmes, 
sinking  into  a  chair.  "  Give  me  some 
whiskey.  That  man  Blank  is  a  worse 
scoundrel  than  I  took  him  for." 

"What's  happened?"  I  asked. 
"Didn't  he  play  square?" 

"  No, "said  Holmes, breathing  heav 
ily.  "He  waited  until  I  had  busted 
the  thing  open  and  was  on  my  way 
out  in  the  dark  hall,  and  then 
pounced  on  me  with  his  butler  and 
valet.  I  bowled  the  butler  down  the 
kitchen  stairs,  and  sent  the  valet 
howling  into  the  dining-room  with 
an  appendicitis  jab  in  the  stomach, 
and  had  the  pleasure  of  blacking 
both  of  Mr.  Blank's  eyes." 

"And  the  stuff?" 

"Right  here,"  said  Holmes,  tapping 
his  chest.  "  I  was  afraid  something 
128 


I  SENT  THE  VALET  HOWLING  INTO  THE  DINING- 
ROOM  .  .  .  AND  HAD  THE  PLEASURE  OF  BLACKING 
BOTH  OF  MR.  BLANK'S  EYES  '  " 


The    Hired  Burglar 

might  happen  on  the  way  out  and  I 
kept  both  hands  free.  I  haven't 
much  confidence  in  philanthropists 
like  Blank.  Fortunately  the  scrim 
mage  was  in  the  dark,  so  Blank  will 
never  know  who  hit  him." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with 
the  $35,000?"  I  queried,  as  we  went 
over  the  booty  later  and  found  it  all 
there. 

"Don't  know — haven't  made  up 
my  mind,"  said  Holmes,  laconically. 
''I'm  too  tired  to  think  about  that 
now.  It's  me  for  bed."  And  with 
that  he  turned  in. 

Two  days  later,  about  nine  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  Mr.  Grouch  again 
called,  and  Holmes  received  him 
courteously. 

"Well,  Mr.  Holmes,"  Grouch  ob 
served,  unctuously,  rubbing  his  hands 
together,  "it  was  a  nice  job,  neatly 
done.  It  saved  the  day  for  me. 
Wilbraham  was  satisfied,  and  has 
given  me  a  whole  year  to  make  good 
129 


R.  Holmes  &    Co. 

the   loss.     My   reputation   is   saved, 
and— 

"  Excuse  me,  Mr.  Blank — or  Grouch 
— er — to  what  do  you  refer?"  asked 
Holmes. 

"Why,  our  little  transaction  of 
Monday  night — or  was  it  Tuesday 
morning?"  said  Grouch. 

"  Oh— that!"  said  Holmes.  "  Well, 
I'm  glad  to  hear  you  managed  to  pull 
it  off  satisfactorily.  I  was  a  little 
worried  about  it.  I  was  afraid  you 
were  done  for." 

"Done  for?"  said  Grouch.  "No, 
indeed .  The  little  plan  went  off  with 
out  a  hitch." 

"Good,"  said  Holmes.  "I  con 
gratulate  you.  Whom  did  you  get  to 
do  the  job  r 

"Who — what — what — why,  what 
do  you  mean,  Mr.  Holmes?"  gasped 
Grouch. 

"Precisely  what  I  say — or  maybe 
you  don't  like  to  tell  me — such  things 
are  apt  to  be  on  a  confidential  basis. 
130 


The  Hired  Burglar 

Anyhow,  I'm  glad  you're  safe,  Mr. 
Grouch,  and  I  hope  your  troubles  are 
over." 

"They  will  be  when  you  give  me 
back  my  $30,000,"  said  Grouch. 

"Your  what?"  demanded  Holmes, 
with  well-feigned  surprise. 

"My  $30,000,"  repeated  Blank,  his 
voice  rising  to  a  shout. 

"My  dear  Mr.  Grouch,"  said 
Holmes,  "how  should  I  know  any 
thing  about  your  $30,000?" 

"Didn't  your — your  man  take  it?" 
demanded  Grouch,  huskily. 

"My  man?  Really,  Mr.  Grouch, 
you  speak  in  riddles  this  evening. 
Pray  make  yourself  more  clear." 

"  Your  reformed  burglar,  who  broke 
open  my  safe,  and—  '  Grouch  went 
on. 

"  I  have  no  such  man,  Mr.  Grouch." 

"Didn't  you  send  a  man  to  my 
house,  Mr.  Raffles,  to  break  open  my 
safe,  and  take  certain  specified  par 
cels  of  negotiable  property  there- 


R.   Holmes   &  Co. 

from  ?"  said  Grouch,  rising  and  pound 
ing  the  table  with  his  fists. 

"  /  did  not ! ' '  returned  Holmes,  with 
equal  emphasis.  "  I  have  never  in  my 
life  sent  anybody  to  your  house,  sir." 

"Then  who  in  the  name  of  Heaven 
did?"  roared  Grouch.  "The  stuff  is 
gone." 

Holmes  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"I  am  willing,"  said  he,  calmly, 
"  to  undertake  to  find  out  who  did  it, 
if  anybody,  if  that  is  what  you  mean, 
Mr.  Grouch.  Ferreting  out  crime  is 
my  profession.  Otherwise,  I  beg  to 
assure  you  that  my  interest  in  the 
case  ceases  at  this  moment." 

Here  Holmes  rose  with  quiet  dig 
nity  and  walked  to  the  door. 

"You  will  find  me  at  my  office  in 
the  morning,  Mr.  Grouch,"  he  re 
marked,  "in  case  you  wish  to  consult 
me  professionally." 

"Hah!"  sneered  Grouch.  "You 
think  you  can  put  me  off  this  way, 
do  you?" 

132 


The    Hired  Burglar 

"I  think  so,"  said  Holmes,  with  a 
glittering  eye.  "No  gentleman  or 
other  person  may  try  to  raise  a  dis 
turbance  in  my  private  apartments 
and  remain  there." 

"We'll  see  what  the  police  have  to 
say  about  this,  Mr.  Raffles  Holmes," 
Grouch  shrieked,  as  he  made  for  the 
door. 

"Very  well,"  said  Holmes.  "I've 
no  doubt  they  will  find  our  discussion 
of  the  other  sinners  very  interesting. 
They  are  welcome  to  the  whole  story 
as  far  as  I  am  concerned." 

And  he  closed  the  door  on  the 
ashen  face  of  the  suffering  Mr. 
Grouch. 

"What  shall  I  do  with  your  share 
of  the  $30,000,  Jenkins?"  said  Raffles 
Holmes  a  week  later. 

"Anything  you  please,"  said  I. 
"Only  don't  offer  any  of  it  to  me. 
I  can't  question  the  abstract  justice 
of  your  mulcting  old  Blank  for  the 


R.    Holmes  &   Co. 

amount,  but,  somehow  or  other,  I 
don't  want  any  of  it  myself.  Send  it 
to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.'* 

"Good!"  said  Holmes. .  "That's 
what  I ' ve  done  with  my  share .  See ! ' ' 

And  he  showed  me  an  evening 
paper  in  which  the  board  conveyed 
its  acknowledgment  of  the  generosity 
of  an  unknown  donor  of  the  princely 
sum  of  $15,000. 


VII 

THE  REDEMPTION  OF  YOUNG  BILLING- 
TON    RAND 

11  JENKINS,"  said  Raffles  Holmes, 
U  lighting  his  pipe  and  throwing 
himself  down  upon  my  couch,  "  don't 
you  sometimes  pine  for  those  good 
old  days  of  Jack  Sheppard  and  Dick 
Turpin?  Hang  it  all — I'm  getting 
blisteringly  tired  of  the  modern  re 
finements  in  crime,  and  yearn  for  the 
period  when  the  highwayman  met 
you  on  the  road  and  made  you  stand 
and  deliver  at  the  point  of  the 
pistol." 

"  Indeed    I    don't!"    I    ejaculated. 
"I'm   not    chicken  -  livered,   Raffles, 
but  I'm  mighty  glad  my  lines  are 
*35 


R.    Holmes   &    Co. 

cast  in  less  strenuous  scenes.  When 
a  book-agent  conies  in  here,  for  in 
stance,  and  holds  me  up  for  nineteen 
dollars  a  volume  for  a  set  of  Kipling 
in  words  of  one  syllable,  illustrated 
by  his  aunt,  and  every  volume  auto 
graphed  by  his  uncle's  step -sister, 
it's  a  game  of  wits  between  us  as  to 
whether  I  shall  buy  or  not  buy,  and 
if  he  gets  away  with  my  signature  to 
a  contract  it  is  because  he  has  legit 
imately  outwitted  me.  But  your 
ancient  Turpin  overcame  you  by 
brute  force;  you  hadn't  a  run  for 
your  money  from  the  moment  he 
got  his  eye  on  you,  and  no  percentage 
of  the  swag  was  ever  returned  to  you 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Double-Cross 
Edition  of  Kipling,  in  which  you  get 
at  least  fifty  cents  worth  of  paper 
and  print  for  every  nineteen  dollars 
you  give  up." 

4 'That  is  merely   the   commercial 
way    of    looking    at    it,"    protested 
Holmes.     "You  reckon  up  the  situa- 
136 


Redemption  of  Young  Rand 

tion  on  a  basis  of  mere  dollars,  strike 
a  balance  and  charge  the  thing  up  to 
profit  and  loss.  But  the  romance  of 
it  all,  the  element  of  the  picturesque, 
the  delicious,  tingling  sense  of  ad 
venture  which  was  inseparable  from 
a  road  experience  with  a  commanding 
personality  like  Turpin — these  things 
are  all  lost  in  your  prosaic  book-agent 
methods  of  our  day.  No  man  writ 
ing  his  memoirs  for  the  enlightenment 
of  posterity  would  ever  dream  of 
setting  down  upon  paper  the  story  of 
how  a  book-agent  robbed  him  of  two 
hundred  dollars,  but  the  chap  who 
has  been  held  up.  in  the  dark  recesses 
of  a  forest  on  a  foggy  night  by  a  Jack 
Sheppard  would  always  find  breath 
less  and  eager  listeners  to  or  readers  of 
the  tale  he  had  to  tell,  even  if  he  lost 
only  a  nickel  by  the  transaction." 

"Well,  old  man,"  said  I,  "I'm 
satisfied  with  the  prosaic  methods  of 
the  gas  companies,  the  book-agents, 
and  the  riggers  of  the  stock-market. 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

Give  me  Wall  Street  and  you  take 
Dick  Turpin  and  all  his  crew.  But 
what  has  set  your  mind  to  working 
on  the  Dick  Turpin  end  of  it  anyhow  ? 
Thinking  of  going  in  for  that  sort  of 
thing  yourself?" 

"M-m-m  yes,"  replied  Holmes,  hes 
itatingly.  "I  am.  Not  that  I  pine 
to  become  one  of  the  Broom  Squires 
myself,  but  because  I — well,  I  may 
be  forced  into  it." 

"Take  my  advice,  Raffles,"  I  inter 
rupted,  earnestly.  "Let  fire-arms 
and  highways  alone.  There's  too 
much  of  battle,  murder,  and  sudden 
death  in  loaded  guns,  and  a  surplus 
of  publicity  in  street  work. ' ' 

"You  mustn't  take  me  so  literally, 
Jenkins,"  he  retorted.  "I'm  not  go 
ing  to  follow  precisely  in  the  steps  of 
Turpin,  but  a  hold-up  on  the  public 
highway  seems  to  be  the  only  way 
out  of  a  problem  which  I  have  been 
employed  to  settle.  Do  you  know 
young  Billington  Rand?" 
138 


Redemption  of  Young  Rand 

"By  sight,"  said  I,  with  a  laugh. 
"And  by  reputation.  You're  not 
going  to  hold  him  up,  are  you?"  I 
added,  contemptuously. 

"Why  not?"  said  Holmes. 

"It's  like  breaking  into  an  empty 
house  in  search  of  antique  furniture," 
I  explained.  "Common  report  has 
it  that  Billington  Rand  has  already 
been  skinned  by  about  every  skinning 
agency  in  town.  He's  posted  at  all 
his  clubs.  Every  gambler  in  town, 
professional  as  well  as  social,  has  his 
I.O.U.'s  for  bridge,  poker,  and  faro 
debts.  Everybody  knows  it  except 
those  fatuous  people  down  in  the 
Kenesaw  National  Bank,  where  he's 
employed,  and  the  Fidelity  Company 
that's  on  his  bond.  He  wouldn't  last 
five  minutes  in  either  place  if  his  un 
cle  wasn't  a  director  in  both  con 


cerns." 


"I  see  that  you  have  a  pretty  fair 
idea  of  Billington  Rand's  financial 
condition,"  said  Holmes. 


R.   Holmes  &   Co. 

"It's  rather  common  talk  in  the 
clubs,  so  why  shouldn't  I?"  I  put  in. 
"  Holding  him  up  would  be  at  most 
an  act  of  petit  larceny,  if  you  measure 
a  crime  by  what  you  get  out  of  it. 
It's  a  great  shame,  though,  for  at 
heart  Rand  is  one  of  the  best  fellows 
in  the  world.  He's  a  man  who  has 
all  the  modern  false  notions  of  what 
a  fellow  ought  to  do  to  keep  up  what 
he  calls  his  end.  He  plays  cards  and 
sustains  ruinous  losses  because  he 
thinks  he  won't  be  considered  a  good- 
fellow  if  he  stays  out.  He  plays 
bridge  with  ladies  and  pays  up  when 
he  loses  and  doesn't  collect  when  he 
wins.  Win  or  lose  he's  doomed  to  be 
on  the  wrong  side  of  the  market  just 
because  of  those  very  qualities  that 
make  him  a  lovable  person — kind  to 
everybody  but  himself,  and  weak  as 
dish-water.  For  Heaven's  sake,  Raf 
fles,  if  the  poor  devil  has  anything 
left  don't  take  it  from  him." 

"Your  sympathy  for  Rand  does 
140 


Redemption  of  Young  Rand 

you  credit,"  said  Holmes.  "But  I 
have  just  as  much  of  that  as  you 
have,  and  that  is  why,  at  half-past 
five  o'clock  to-morrow  afternoon,  I'm 
going  to  hold  him  up,  in  the  public 
eye,  and  incontinently  rob  him  of 
$25,000." 

' '  Twenty  -  five  thousand  dollars  ? 
Billington  Rand?"  I  gasped. 

"  Twenty  -five  thousand  dollars. 
Billington  Rand,"  repeated  Holmes, 
firmly.  "  If  you  don't  believe  it 
come  along  and  see.  He  doesn't 
know  you,  does  he?" 

"Not  from  Adam,"  said  I. 

"Very  good — then  you'll  be  safe 
as  a  church.  Meet  me  in  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Hotel  corridor  at  five  to 
morrow  afternoon  and  I'll  show  you 
as  pretty  a  hold-up  as  you  ever 
dreamed  of,"  said  Holmes. 

"  But — I  can't  take  part  in  a  crim 
inal  proceeding  like  that,  Holmes,"  I 
protested. 

"You  won't  have  to — even  if  it 
141 


R.  Holmes  &   Co. 

were  a  criminal  proceeding,  which  it 
is  not,"  he  returned.  "  Nobody  out 
side  of  you  and  me  will  know  any 
thing  about  it  but  Rand  himself,  and 
the  chances  that  he  will  peach  are 
less  than  a  millionth  part  of  a  half 
per  cent.  Anyhow,  all  you  need  be 
is  a  witness." 

There  was  a  long  and  uneasy  silence. 
I  was  far  from  liking  the  job,  but  after 
all,  so  far,  Holmes  had  not  led  me  into 
any  difficulties  of  a  serious  nature, 
and,  knowing  him  as  I  had  come  to 
know  him,  I  had  a  hearty  belief  that 
any  wrong  he  did  was  temporary  and 
was  sure  to  be  rectified  in  the  long 
run. 

"  I've  a  decent  motive  in  all  this, 
Jenkins,"  he  resumed  in  a  few  mo 
ments.  "Don't  forget  that.  This 
hold-up  is  going  to  result  in  a  ref 
ormation  that  will  be  for  the  good 
of  everybody,  so  don't  have  any 
scruples  on  that  score." 

"  All  right,  Raffles,"  said  I.  "  You've 
142 


Redemption  of  Young  Rand 

always  played  straight  with  me,  so 
far,  and  I  don't  doubt  your  word — 
only  I  hate  the  highway  end  of  it." 

"Tutt,  Jenkins!"  he  ejaculated, 
with  a  laugh  and  giving  me  a  whack 
on  the  shoulders  that  nearly  toppled 
me  over  into  the  fire-place.  "Don't 
be  a  rabbit.  The  thing  will  be  as  easy 
as  cutting  calve's-foot  jelly  with  a 
razor." 

Thus  did  I  permit  myself  to  be 
persuaded,  and  the  next  afternoon 
at  five,  Holmes  and  I  met  in  the 
corridor  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel. 

"Come  on,"  he  said,  after  the  first 
salutations  were  over.  "Rand  will 
be  at  the  Thirty-third  Street  subway 
at  5.15,  and  it  is  important  that  we 
should  catch  him  before  he  gets  to 
Fifth  Avenue." 

"I'm  glad  it's  to  be  on  a  side 
street,"  I  remarked,  my  heart  beating 
rapidly  with  excitement  over  the 
work  in  hand,  for  the  more  I  thought 
of  the  venture  the  less  I  liked  it. 


R.   Holmes  &  Co. 

"Oh,  I  don't  know  that  it  will  be," 
said  Holmes,  carelessly.  "I  may 
pull  it  off  in  the  corridors  of  the 
Powhatan." 

The  pumps  in  my  heart  reversed 
their  action  and  for  a  moment  I 
feared  I  should  drop  with  dismay. 

"In  the  Powhatan—  "  I  began. 

"Shut  up,  Jenkins!"  said  Holmes, 
imperatively.  "This  is  no  time  for 
protests.  We're  in  it  now  and  there's 
no  drawing  back." 

Ten  minutes  later  we  stood  at  the 
intersection  of  Thirty- third  Street  and 
Fifth  Avenue.  Holmes 's  eyes  flashed 
and  his  whole  nervous  system  quiv 
ered  as  with  the  joy  of  the  chase. 

"Keep  your  mouth  shut,  Jenkins, 
and  you'll  see  a  pretty  sight,"  he 
whispered,  "  for  here  comes  our  man." 

Sure  enough,  there  was  Billington 
Rand  on  the  other  side  of  the  street, 
walking  along  nervously  and  clutch 
ing  an  oblong  package,  wrapped  in 
brown  paper,  firmly  in  his  right  hand. 
144 


Redemption  of  Young  Rand 

"Now  for  it,"  said  Holmes,  and  we 
crossed  the  street,  scarcely  reaching 
the  opposite  curb  before  Rand  was 
upon  us.  Rand  eyed  us  closely  and 
shied  off  to  one  side  as  Holmes  block 
ed  his  progress. 

"I'll  trouble  you  for  that  package, 
Mr.  Rand,"  said  Holmes,  quietly. 

The  man's  face  went  white  and  he 
caught  his  breath. 

"Who  the  devil  are  you?"  he  de 
manded,  angrily. 

"That  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
case,"  retorted  Holmes.  "I  want 
that  package  or — 

"Get  out  of  my  way!"  cried  Rand, 
with  a  justifiable  show  of  resentment. 
"Or  I'll  call  an  officer." 

"Will  you?"  said  Holmes,  quietly. 
"  Will  you  call  an  officer  and  so  make 
known  to  the  authorities  that  you 
are  in  possession  of  twenty-five  thou 
sand  dollars  worth  of  securities  that 
belong  to  other  people,  which  are 
supposed  at  this  moment  to  be  safely 


R.   Holmes  &  Co. 

locked  up  in  the  vaults  of  the  Kene- 
saw  National  Bank  along  with  other 
collateral?" 

Rand  staggered  back  against  the 
newel-post  of  a  brown-stone  stoop, 
and  stood  there  gazing  wildly  into 
Holmes 's  face. 

"  Of  course,  if  you  prefer  having  the 
facts  made  known  in  that  way," 
Holmes  continued,  coolly,  "you  have 
the  option.  I  am  not  going  to  use 
physical  force  to  persuade  you  to 
hand  the  package  over  to  me,  but  you 
are  a  greater  fool  than  I  take  you  for 
if  you  choose  that  alternative.  To 
use  an  expressive  modern  phrase,  Mr. 
Billington  Rand,  you  will  be  caught 
with  the  goods  on,  and  unless  you 
have  a  far  better  explanation  of  how 
those  securities  happen  in  your  pos 
session  at  this  moment  than  I  think 
you  have,  there  is  no  power  on  earth 
can  keep  you  from  landing  in  state- 
prison." 

The  unfortunate  victim  of  Holmes 's 
146 


Redemption  of  Young  Rand 

adventure  fairly  gasped  in  his  com 
bined  rage  and  fright.  Twice  he  at 
tempted  to  speak,  but  only  inarticu 
late  sounds  issued  from  his  lips. 

"You  are,  of  course,  very  much 
disturbed  at  the  moment,"  Holmes 
went  on,  "  and  I  am  really  very  sorry 
if  anything  I  have  done  has  disar 
ranged  any  honorable  enterprise  in 
which  you  have  embarked.  I  don't 
wish  to  hurry  you  into  a  snap  decision, 
which  you  may  repent  later,  only 
either  the  police  or  I  must  have  that 
package  within  an  hour.  It  is  for 
you  to  say  which  of  us  is  to  get  it. 
Suppose  we  run  over  to  the  Powhatan 
and  discuss  the  matter  calmly  over  a 
bottle  of  Glengarry?  Possibly  I  can 
convince  you  that  it  will  be  for  your 
own  good  to  do  precisely  as  I  tell  you 
and  very  much  to  your  disadvantage 
to  do  otherwise." 

Rand,  stupefied  by  this  sudden  in 
trusion  upon  his  secret  by  an  utter 
stranger,  lost  what  little  fight  there 
ii  147 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

was  left  in  him,  and  at  least  seemed 
to  assent  to  Holmes 's  proposition. 
The  latter  linked  arms  with  him,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  we  walked  into  the 
famous  hostelry  just  as  if  we  were 
three  friends,  bent  only  upon  hav 
ing  a  pleasant  chat  over  a  cafe 
table. 

"What  '11  you  have,  Mr.  Rand?" 
asked  Holmes,  suavely.  "I'm  elect 
ed  for  the  Glengarry  special,  with  a 
little  carbonic  on  the  side." 

"Same,"  said  Rand,  laconically. 

"  Sandwich  with  it?"  asked  Holmes. 
"You'd  better." 

"Oh,  I  can't  eat  anything,"  began 
Rand.  "I- 

"  Bring  us  some  sandwiches,  waiter, 
said  Holmes.  "Two  Glengarry  spe 
cial,  a  syphon  of  carbonic,  and — 
Jenkins,  what's  yours?" 

The  calmness  and  the  cheek  of  the 
fellow ! 

"I'm  not  in  on  this  at  all,"  I  re 
torted,  angered  by  Holmes 's  use  of 
148 


Redemption  of  Young  Rand 

my  name.  "And  I  want  Mr.  Rand 
to  understand— 

" Oh, tutt '."ejaculated  Holmes.  "He 
knows  that.  Mr.  Rand,  my  friend 
Jenkins  has  no  connection  with  this 
enterprise  of  mine,  and  he's  done  his 
level  best  to  dissuade  me  from  hold 
ing  you  up  so  summarily.  All  he's 
along  for  is  to  write  the  thing  up 
for- 

"The  newspapers?"  cried  Rand, 
now  thoroughly  frightened. 

"  No,"  laughed  Holmes.  "  Nothing 
so  useful — the  magazines." 

Holmes  winked  at  me  as  he  spoke, 
and  I  gathered  that  there  was  method 
in  his  apparent  madness. 

"That's  one  of  the  points  you  want 
to  consider,  though,  Mr.  Rand,"  he 
said,  leaning  upon  the  table  with  his 
elbows.  "Think  of  the  newspapers 
to-morrow  morning  if  you  call  the 
police  rather  than  hand  that  package 
over  to  me.  It  '11  be  a  big  sensation 
for  Wall  Street  and  upper  Fifth 
149 


R.   Holmes  &   Co. 

Avenue,  to  say  nothing  of  what  the 
yellows  will  make  of  the  story  for  the 
rest  of  hoi  polloi.  The  newsboys  will 
be  yelling  extras  all  over  town, 
printed  in  great,  red  letters,  *  A  Club 
man  Held -Up  In  Broad  Daylight,  For 
$25,000  In  Securities  That  Didn't 
Belong  to  Him.  Billington  Rand  Has 
Something  To  Explain.  Where  Did 
He  Get  It?—" 

"For  Heavens  sake,  man!  don't!" 
pleaded  the  unfortunate  Billington. 
"God!  I  never  thought  of  that." 

"Of  course  you  didn't  think  of 
that,"  said  Holmes.  "That's  why 
I'm  telling  you  about  it  now.  You 
don't  dispute  my  facts,  do  you?" 

"No,  I—"  Rand  began. 

"Of  course  not,"  said  Holmes. 
"You  might  as  well  dispute  the  ex 
istence  of  the  Flat-iron  Building.  If 
you  don't  want  to-morrow's  papers 
to  be  full  of  this  thing  you'll  hand 
that  package  over  to  me." 

"  But,"  protested  Rand,  "I'm  only 


Redemption  of  Young  Rand 

taking  them  up  to — to  a — er — to  a 
broker."  Here  he  gathered  himself 
together  and  spoke  with  greater 
assurance.  "  I  am  delivering  them, 
sir,  to  a  broker,  on  behalf  of  one  of 
our  depositors  who— 

"Who  has  been  speculating  with 
what  little  money  he  had  left,  has 
lost  his  margins,  and  is  now  forced 
into  an  act  of  crime  to  protect 
his  speculation,"  said  Holmes.  "The 
broker  is  the  notorious  William  C. 
Gallagher,  who  runs  an  up -town 
bucket-shop  for  speculative  ladies  to 
lose  their  pin-money  and  bridge  win 
nings  in,  and  your  depositor's  name 
is  Billington  Rand,  Esq. — otherwise 
yourself." 

"How  do  you  know  all  this?" 
gasped  Rand. 

"Oh  —  maybe  I  read  it  on  the 
ticker,"  laughed  Holmes.  "Or,  what 
is  more  likely,  possibly  I  overheard 
Gallagher  recommending  you  to  dip 
into  the  bank's  collateral  to  save 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

your   investment,    at  Green's   chop- 
house  last  night." 

"You  were  at  Green's  chop-house 
last  night?"  cried  Rand. 

"  In  the  booth  adjoining  your  own, 
and  I  heard  every  word  you  said," 
said  Holmes. 

"Well,  I  don't  see  why  I  should 
give  the  stuff  to  you  anyhow,"  growl 
ed  Rand. 

"Chiefly  because  I  happen  to  be 
long  on  information  which  would  be 
of  interest,  not  only  to  the  police, 
but  to  the  president  and  board  of 
directors  of  the  Kenesaw  National 
Bank,  Mr.  Rand,"  said  Holmes.  "  It 
will  be  a  simple  matter  for  me  to 
telephone  Mr.  Horace  Huntington, 
the  president  of  your  institution,  and 
put  him  wise  to  this  transaction  of 
yours,  and  that  is  the  second  thing 
I  shall  do  immediately  you  have  de 
cided  not  to  part  with  that  package." 

"The  second  thing?"  Rand  whim 
pered.     "What  will  you  do  first?" 
152 


Redemption  of  Young  Rand 

"  Communicate  with  the  first  police 
man  we  meet  when  we  leave  here," 
said  Holmes.  "  But  take  your  time, 
Mr.  Rand — take  your  time.  Don't  let 
me  hurry  you  into  a  decision.  Try  a 
little  of  this  Glengarry  and  we'll  drink 
hearty  to  a  sensible  conclusion." 

"I  — I'll  put  them  back  in  the 
vaults  to-morrow,"  pleaded  Rand. 

" Can't  trust  you,  my  boy,"  said 
Holmes.  "Not  with  a  persuasive 
crook  like  old  Bucket-shop  Gallagher 
on  your  trail.  They're  safer  with 
me." 

Rand's  answer  was  a  muttered  oath 
as  he  tossed  the  package  across  the 
table  and  started  to  leave  us. 

"One  word  more,  Mr.  Rand,"  said 
Holmes,  detaining  him.  "Don't  do 
anything  rash.  There's  a  lot  of  good- 
fellowship  between  criminals,  and  I'll 
stand  by  you  all  right.  So  far  no 
body  knows  you  took  these  things, 
and  even  when  they  turn  up  missing, 
if  you  go  about  your  work  as  if  noth- 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

ing  had  happened,  while  you  may  be 
suspected,  nobody  can  prove  that  you 
got  the  goods." 

Rand's  face  brightened  at  this 
remark. 

"By  Jove! — that's  true  enough," 
said  he.  " Except  Gallagher,"  he 
added,  his  face  falling. 

"  Pah  for  Gallagher!"  cried  Holmes, 
snapping  his  fingers  contemptuously. 
"If  he  as  much  as  peeped  we  could 
put  him  in  jail,  and  if  he  sells  you  out 
you  tell  him  for  me  that  I'll  land  him 
in  Sing  Sing  for  a  term  of  years.  He 
led  you  into  this — " 

"He  certainly  did,"  moaned  Rand. 

"  And  he's  got  to  get  you  out,"  said 
Holmes.  "Now,  good-bye,  old  man. 
The  worst  that  can  happen  to  you  is 
a  few  judgments  instead  of  penal 
servitude  for  eight  or  ten  years,  un 
less  you  are  foolish  enough  to  try 
another  turn  of  this  sort,  and  then 
you  may  not  happen  on  a  good- 
natured  highwayman  like  myself  to 


Redemption  of  Young  Rand 

get  you  out  of  your  troubles.  By-the- 
way,  what  is  the  combination  of  the 
big  safe  in  the  outer  office  of  the 
Kenesaw  National?" 

"  One-eight-nine-seven,"  said  Rand. 

"Thanks,"  said  Holmes,  jotting  it 
down  coolly  in  his  memorandum- 
book.  "That's  a  good  thing  to 
know." 

That  night,  shortly  before  mid 
night,  Holmes  left  me.  "I've  got  to 
finish  this  job,"  said  he.  "The  most 
ticklish  part  of  the  business  is  yet  to 
come." 

"Great  Scott,  Holmes!"  I  cried. 
"Isn't  the  thing  done?" 

"No — of  course  not,"  he  replied. 
"  I've  got  to  bust  open  the  Kenesaw 
safe." 

"Now,  my  dear  Raffles,"  I  began, 
"why  aren't  you  satisfied  with  what 
you've  done  already.  Why  must 
you — " 

"  Shut  up,  Jenkins,"  he  interrupted, 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

with  a  laugh.  "  If  you  knew  what  I 
was  going  to  do  you  wouldn't  kick — 
that  is,  unless  you've  turned  crook 
too?" 

"Not  I,"  said  I,  indignantly. 

"You   don't   expect   me    to   keep 
these  bonds,  do  you?"  he  asked. 

"But  what  are  you  going  to  do 
with  them?"  I  retorted. 

"Put  'em  back  in  the  Kenesaw 
Bank,  where  they  belong,  so  that 
they'll  be  found  there  to-morrow 
morning.  As  sure  as  I  don't,  Billing- 
ton  Rand  is  doomed,"  said  he.  "  It's 
a  tough  job,  but  I've  been  paid  a 
thousand  dollars  by  his  family,  to 
find  out  what  he's  up  to,  and  by 
thunder,  after  following  his  trail  for 
three  weeks,  I've  got  such  a  liking 
for  the  boy  that  I'm  going  to  save 
him  if  it  can  be  done,  and  if  there's 
any  Raffles  left  in  me,  such  a  simple 
proposition  as  cracking  a  bank  and 
puting  the  stuff  back  where  it  belongs, 
in  a  safe  of  which  I  have  the  combina- 
156 


Redemption  of  Young  Rand 

tion,  isn't  going  to  stand  in  my  way. 
Don't  fret,  old  man,  it's  as  good  as 
done.  Good-night." 

And  Raffles  Holmes  was  off.  I 
passed  a  feverish  night,  but  at  five 
o'clock  the  following  morning  a  tele 
phone  message  set  all  my  misgivings 
at  rest. 

"Hello,  Jenkins!"  came  Raffles's 
voice  over  the  wire. 

"Hello,"  I  replied. 

"Just  rang  you  up  to  let  you.know 
that  it's  all  right.  The  stuff's  re 
placed.  Easiest  job  ever — like  open 
ing  oysters.  Pleasant  dreams  to 
you,"  he  said,  and,  click,  the  connec 
tion  was  broken. 

Two  weeks  later  Billington  Rand 
resigned  from  the  Kenesaw  Bank  and 
went  West,  where  he  is  now  leading 
the  simple  life  on  a  sheep -ranch.  His 
resignation  was  accepted  with  regret, 
and  the  board  of  directors,  as  a  special 
mark  of  their  liking,  voted  him  a  gift 
of  $2500  for  faithful  services. 


R.  Holmes    &    Co. 

"And  the  best  part  of  it  was,"  said 
Holmes,  when  he  told  me  of  the  young 
man's  good  fortune,  "that  his  ac 
counts  were  as  straight  as  a  string." 

"Holmes,  you  are  a  bully  chap!" 
I  cried,  in  a  sudden  excess  of  en 
thusiasm.  "You  do  things  for  noth 
ing  sometimes — " 

"  Nothing !"  echoed  Holmes— "  noth 
ing!  Why,  that  job  was  worth  a 
million  dollars  to  me,  Jenkins — but 
not  in  coin.  Just  in  good  solid  satis 
faction  in  saving  a  fine  young  chap 
like  Billington  Rand  from  the  clutches 
of  a  sharper  and  sneaking  skinflint  like 
old  Bucket-shop  Gallagher." 


VIII 


THE  NOSTALGIA  OF  NERVY  JIM  THE 
SNATCHER" 


RAFFLES  HOLMES  was  unusu 
ally  thoughtful  the  other  night 
when  he  entered  my  apartment,  and 
for  a  long  time  I  could  get  nothing 
out  of  him  save  an  occasional  grunt 
of  assent  or  dissent  from  propositions 
advanced  by  myself.  It  was  quite 
evident  that  he  was  cogitating  deeply 
over  some  problem  that  was  more  than 
ordinarily  vexatious,  so  I  finally  gave 
up  all  efforts  at  conversation,  pushed 
the  cigars  closer  to  him,  poured  him 
out  a  stiff  dose  of  his  favorite  Glen 
garry,  and  returned  to  my  own  work. 
It  was  a  full  hour  before  he  volun- 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

teered  an  observation  of  any  kind, 
and  then  he  plunged  rapidly  into  a 
very  remarkable  tale. 

"  I  had  a  singular  adventure  to 
day,  Jenkins,"  he  said.  "Do  you 
happen  to  have  in  your  set  of  my 
father's  adventures  a  portrait  of 
Sherlock  Holmes?" 

"Yes,  I  have,"  I  replied.  "But 
you  don't  need  anything  of  the  kind 
to  refresh  your  memory  of  him.  All 
you  have  to  do  is  to  look  at  yourself 
in  the  glass,  and  you've  got  the  pho 
tograph  before  you." 

11 1  am  so  like  him  then?"  he 
queried. 

"Most  of  the  time,  old  man,  I  am 
glad  to  say, ' '  said  I.  "  There  are  days 
when  you  are  the  living  image  of  your 
grandfather  Raffles,  but  that  is  only 
when  you  are  planning  some  scheme 
of  villany.  I  can  almost  invariably 
detect  the  trend  of  your  thoughts 
by  a  glance  at  your  face  —  you  are 
Holmes  himself  in  your  honest  mo- 
160 


''Nostalgia    of  Nervy  Jim" 

ments,  Raffles  at  others.  For  the 
past  week  it  has  delighted  me  more 
than  I  can  say  to  find  you  a  f ac-simile 
of  your  splendid  father,  with  naught 
to  suggest  your  fascinating  but  vicious 
granddad." 

4 'That's  what  I  wanted  to  find  out. 
I  had  evidence  of  it  this  afternoon  on 
Broadway,"  said  he.  "It  was  bit 
terly  cold  up  around  Fortieth  Street, 
snowing  like  the  devil,  and  such 
winds  as  you'd  expect  to  find  no 
where  this  side  of  Greenland's  icy 
mountains.  I  came  out  of  a  Broad 
way  chop-house  and  started  north, 
when  I  was  stopped  by  an  ill-clad, 
down-trodden  specimen  of  humanity, 
who  begged  me,  for  the  love  of 
Heaven  to  give  him  a  drink.  The 
poor  chap's  condition  was  such  that 
it  would  have  been  manslaughter  to 
refuse  him,  and  a  moment  later  I  had 
him  before  the  Skidmore  bar,  gurgling 
down  a  tumblerful  of  raw  brandy  as 
though  it  were  water.  He  wiped  his 
161 


R.  Holmes  &   Co. 

mouth  on  his  sleeve  and  turned  to 
thank  me,  when  a  look  of  recognition 
came  into  his  face,  and  he  staggered 
back  half  in  fear  and  half  in  amaze 
ment. 

'"Sherlock  Holmes!'  he  cried. 

"Am  I?'  said  I,  calmly,  my  curi 
osity  much  excited. 

' ' Him  or  his  twin!'  said  he. 

"How  should  you  know  me?'  I 
asked. 

"Good  reason  enough/  he  mutter 
ed.  *  'Twas  Sherlock  Holmes  as  landed 
me  for  ten  years  in  Reading  gaol.' 

:'Well,  my  friend,'  I  answered, 
'I've  no  doubt  you  deserved  it  if  he 
did  it.  I  am  not  Sherlock  Holmes, 
however,  but  his  son.' 

'Will  you  let  me  take  you  by 
the  hand,  governor?'  he  whispered, 
hoarsely.  'Not  for  the  kindness 
you've  shown  me  here,  but  for  the 
service  your  old  man  did  me.  I  am 
Nervy  Jim  the  Snatcher.' 

"Service?'  said  I,  with  a  laugh. 
162 


"Nostalgia   of  Nervy  Jim'* 

'You    consider   it   a    service    to    be 
landed  in  Reading  gaol?' 

'"They  was  the  only  happy  years 
I  ever  had,  sir,'  he  answered,  impetu 
ously.  '  The  keepers  was  good  to  me. 
I  was  well  fed ;  kept  workin'  hard  at 
an  honest  job,  pickin'  oakum;  the 
gaol  was  warm,  and  I  never  went  to 
bed  by  night  or  got  up  o'  mornin's 
worried  over  the  question  o'  how  I 
was  goin'  to  get  the  swag  to  pay  my 
rent.  Compared  to  this '  -  —  with  a 
wave  of  his  hand  at  the  raging  of  the 
elements  along  Broadway — 'Reading 
gaol  was  heaven,  sir ;  and  since  I  was 
discharged  I've  been  a  helpless,  hope 
less  wanderer,  sleepin'  in  doorways, 
chilled  to  the  bone,  half -starved,  with 
not  a  friendly  eye  in  sight,  and 
no  thin'  to  do  all  day  long  and  all 
night  long  but  move  on  when  the 
Bobbies  tell  me  to,  and  think  about 
the  happiness  I'd  left  behind  me 
when  I  left  Reading.  Was  you  ever 
homesick,  governor?' 
«  163 


R.   Holmes   &  Co. 

"  I  confessed  to  an  occasional  feel 
ing  of  nostalgia  for  old  Picadilly  and 
the  Thames. 

'Then  you  know,'  says  he,  'how 
I  feels  now  in  a  strange  land,  dreamin ' 
of  my  comfortable  little  cell  at  Read 
ing;  the  good  meals,  the  pleasant 
keepers,  and  a  steady  job  with  no  thin' 
to  worry  about  for  ten  short  years. 
I  want  to  go  back,  governor — I  want 
to  go  back!' 

"Well,"  said  Holmes,  lighting  a 
cigar,  "I  was  pretty  nearly  floored, 
but  when  the  door  of  the  saloon  blew 
open  and  a  blast  of  sharp  air  and  a 
flurry  of  snow  came  in,  I  couldn't 
blame  the  poor  beggar — certainly  any 
place  in  the  world,  even  a  jail,  was 
more  comfortable  than  Broadway  at 
that  moment.  I  explained  to  him,  how 
ever,  that  as  far  as  Reading  gaol  was 
concerned,  I  was  powerless  to  help  him. 
But  there's  just  as  good  prisons 
here,  ain't  there,  governor?'  he  plead 
ed. 

164 


"Nostalgia    of  Nervy  Jim" 

"'Oh  yes,'  said  I,  laughing  at  the 
absurdity  of  the  situation.  'Sing 
Sing  is  a  first-class,  up-to-date  peni 
tentiary,  with  all  modern  improve 
ments,  and  a  pretty  select  clien 
tele.' 

" c  Couldn't  you  put  me  in  there, 
governor?'  he  asked,  wistfully.  'I'll 
do  anything  you  ask,  short  o'  murder, 
governor,  if  you  only  will.' 

" '  Why  don't  you  get  yourself 
arrested  as  a  vagrant?'  I  asked. 
'That  '11  give  you  three  months  on 
Blackwell's  Island  and  will  tide  you 
over  the  winter.' 

" '  'Tain't  permanent,  governor,'  he 
objected.  '  At  the  end  o'  three  months 
I'd  be  out  and  have  to  begin  all  over 
again.  What  I  want  is  something  I 
can  count  on  for  ten  or  twenty  years. 
Besides,  I  has  some  pride,  governor, 
and  for  Nervy  Jim  to  do  three  months' 
time — Lor',  sir,  I  couldn't  bring  my 
self  to  nothin'  so  small!' 

"There  was  no  resisting  the  poor 
165 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

cuss,  Jenkins,  and  I  promised  to  do 
what  I  could  for  him." 

"That's  a  nice  job,"  said  I.  "What 
can  you  do?" 

"That's  what  stumps  me,"  said 
Raffles  Holmes,  scratching  his  head 
in  perplexity.  "  I've  set  him  up  in  a 
small  tenement  down  on  East  Hous 
ton  Street  temporarily,  and  mean 
while,  it's  up  to  me  to  land  him  in 
Sing  Sing,  where  he  can  live  comfort 
ably  for  a  decade  or  so,  and  I'm 
hanged  if  I  know  how  to  do  it.  He 
used  to  be  a  first-class  second-story 
man,  and  in  his  day  was  an  A-i 
snatcher,  as  his  name  signifies  and 
my  father's  diaries  attest,  but  I'm 
afraid  his  hand  is  out  for  a  nice  job 
such  as  I  would  care  to  have  any 
thing  to  do  with  myself ." 

"Better  let  him  slide,  Raffles," 
said  I.  "He  introduces  the  third 
party  element  into  our  arrangement, 
and  that's  mighty  dangerous." 

"True — but  consider  the  literary 
166 


"Nostalgia   of  Nervy  Jim" 

value  of  a  chap  that's  homesick  for 
jail,"  he  answered,  persuasively.  "I 
don't  know,  but  I  think  he's  new." 

Ah,  the  insidious  appeal  of  that 
man!  He  knew  the  crack  in  my 
armor,  and  with  neatness  and  de 
spatch  he  pierced  it,  and  I  fell. 

"Well—"  I  demurred. 

"  Good,"  said  he.  "  We'll  consider 
it  arranged.  I'll  fix  him  out  in  a 
week." 

Holmes  left  me  at  this  point,  and 
for  two  days  I  heard  nothing  from 
him.  On  the  morning  of  the  third 
day  he  telephoned  me  to  meet  him 
at  the  stage-door  of  the  Metropolitan 
Opera-House  at  four  o'clock.  "  Bring 
your  voice  with  you,"  said  he,  enig 
matically,  "we  may  need  it."  An 
immediate  explanation  of  his  mean 
ing  was  impossible,  for  hardly  were 
the  words  out  of  his  mouth  when  he 
hung  up  the  receiver  and  cut  the  con 
nection. 

"  I  wanted  to  excite  your  curiosity 


R.  Holmes  &  Co. 

so  that  you  would  be  sure  to  come," 
he  laughed,  when  I  asked  his  meaning 
later.  "  You  and  I  are  going  to  join 
Mr.  Conried's  selected  chorus  of  edu 
cated  persons  who  want  to  earn  their 
grand  opera  instead  of  paying  five 
dollars  a  performance  for  it." 

And  so  we  did,  although  I  objected 
a  little  at  first. 

"I  can't  sing,"  said  I. 

"Of  course  you  can't,"  said  he. 
"If  you  could  you  wouldn't  go  into 
the  chorus.  But  don't  bother  about 
that,  I  have  a  slight  pull  here  and 
we  can  get  in  all  right  as  long  as  we 
are  moderately  intelligent,  and  able- 
bodied  enough  to  carry  a  spear.  By- 
the-way,  in  musical  circles  my  name 
is  Dickson.  Don't  forget  that." 

That  Holmes  had  a  pull  was  shortly 
proven,  for  although  neither  of  us 
was  more  than  ordinarily  gifted 
vocally,  we  proved  acceptable  and 
in  a  short  time  found  ourselves 
enrolled  among  the  supernumeraries 
168 


"Nostalgia    of  Nervy    Jim" 

who  make  of  "  Lohengrin  "  a  splendid 
spectacle  to  the  eye.  I  found  real 
zest  in  life  carrying  that  spear,  and 
entered  into  the  spirit  of  what  I 
presumed  to  be  a  mere  frolic  with 
enthusiasm,  merely  for  the  expe 
rience  of  it,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
delight  I  took  in  the  superb  music, 
which  I  have  always  loved. 

And  then  the  eventful  night  came. 
It  was  Monday  and  the  house  was 
packed.  On  both  sides  of  the  cur 
tain  everything  was  brilliant.  The 
cast  was  one  of  the  best  and  the 
audience  all  that  the  New  York 
audience  is  noted  for  in  wealth, 
beauty,  and  social  prestige,  and, 
in  the  matter  of  jewels,  of  lavish 
display.  Conspicuous  in  respect  to 
the  last  was  the  ever-popular,  though 
somewhat  eccentric  Mrs.  Robinson- 
Jones,  who  in  her  grand  -  tier  box 
fairly  scintillated  with  those  marvel 
lous  gems  which  gave  her,  as  a 
musical  critic,  whose  notes  on  the 
169 


R.   Holmes   &  Co. 

opera  were  chiefly  confined  to  obser 
vations  on  its  social  aspects,  put  it, 
"the  appearance  of  being  lit  up  by 
electricity."  Even  from  where  I 
stood,  as  a  part  and  parcel  of  the 
mock  king's  court  on  the  stage,  I 
could  see  the  rubies  and  sapphires 
and  diamonds  loom  large  upon  the 
horizon  as  the  red,  white,  and  blue 
emblem  of  our  national  greatness  to 
the  truly  patriotic  soul.  Little  did  I 
dream,  as  I  stood  in  the  rear  line  of 
the  court,  clad  in  all  the  gorgeous 
regalia  of  a  vocal  supernumerary, 
and  swelling  the  noisy  welcome  to 
the  advancing  Lohengrin,  with  my 
apology  for  a  voice,  how  intimately 
associated  with  these  lustrous  head 
lights  I  was  soon  to  be,  and  as 
Raffles  Holmes  and  I  poured  out  our 
souls  in  song  not  even  his  illustrious 
father  would  have  guessed  that  he 
was  there  upon  any  other  business 
than  that  of  Mr.  Conried.  As  far  as 
I  could  see,  Raffles  was  wrapt  in  the 
170 


"Nostalgia  of  Nervy  Jim' 

music  of  the  moment,  and  not  once, 
to  my  knowledge,  did  he  seem  to  be 
aware  that  there  was  such  a  thing 
as  an  audience,  much  less  one  indi 
vidual  member  of  it,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  footlights.  Like  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Old  Choral  Guard,  he  went 
through  the  work  in  hand  as  non 
chalantly  as  though  it  were  his 
regular  business  in  life.  It  was  dur 
ing  the  intermission  between  the  first 
and  second  acts  that  I  began  to 
suspect  that  there  was  something  in 
the  wind  beside  music,  for  Holmes 's 
face  became  set,  and  the  resemblance 
to  his  honorable  father,  which  had  of 
late  been  so  marked,  seemed  to  dis 
solve  itself  into  an  unpleasant  sug 
gestion  of  his  other  forbear,  the 
acquisitive  Raffles.  My  own  enthu 
siasm  for  our  operatic  experience, 
which  I  took  no  pains  to  conceal, 
found  no  response  from  him,  and 
from  the  fall  of  the  curtain  on  the 
first  act  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  he  were 
171 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

trying  to  avoid  me.  So  marked  in 
deed  did  this  desire  to  hold  himself 
aloof  become  that  I  resolved  to 
humor  him  in  it,  and  instead  of 
clinging  to  his  side  as  had  been  my 
wont,  I  let  him  go  his  own  way,  and, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  second  act, 
he  disappeared.  I  did  not  see  him 
again  until  the  long  passage  between 
Ortrud  and  Telramund  was  on,  when, 
in  the  semi-darkness  of  the  stage,  I 
caught  sight  of  him  hovering  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  electric  switch-board 
by  which  the  lights  of  the  house 
are  controlled.  Suddenly  I  saw  him 
reach  out  his  hand  quickly,  and  a  mo 
ment  later  every  box-light  went  out, 
leaving  the  auditorium  in  darkness, 
relieved  only  by  the  lighting  of 
the  stage.  Almost  immediately  there 
came  a  succession  of  shrieks  from  the 
grand -tier  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  Robinson  -Jones  box,  and  I 
knew  that  something  was  afoot. 
Only  a  slight  commotion  in  the 
172 


"Nostalgia  of  Nervy  Jim" 

audience  was  manifest  to  us  upon 
the  stage,  but  there  was  a  hurrying 
and  scurrying  of  ushers  and  others 
of  greater  or  less  authority,  until 
finally  the  box -lights  flashed  out 
again  in  all  their  silk-tasselled  illumi 
nation.  The  progress  of  the  opera 
was  not  interrupted  for  a  moment, 
but  in  that  brief  interval  of  black 
ness  at  the  rear  of  the  house  some  one 
had  had  time  to  force  his  way  into 
the  Robinson- Jones  box  and  snatch 
from  the  neck  of  its  fair  occupant  that 
wondrous  hundred  -  thousand  -  dollar 
necklace  of  matchless  rubies  that  had 
won  the  admiring  regard  of  many 
beholders,  and  the  envious  interest 
of  not  a  few. 

Three  hours  later  Raffles  Holmes 
and  I  returned  from  the  days  and 
dress  of  Lohengrin's  time  to  affairs 
of  to-day,  and  when  we  were  seated 
in  my  apartment  along  about  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  Holmes  lit 
a  cigar,  poured  himself  out  a  liberal 


R.   Holmes  &    Co. 

dose  of  Glengarry,  and  with  a  quiet 
smile,  leaned  back  in  his  chair. 

" Well/'  he  said,  "what  about  it?" 

"You  have  the  floor,  Raffles,"  I 
answered.  "Was  that  your  work?" 

"One  end  of  it,"  said  he.  "It 
went  off  like  clock-work.  Poor  old 
Nervy  has  won  his  board  and  lodging 
for  twenty  years  all  right." 

"But — he's  got  away  with  it,"  I 
put  in. 

"As  far  as  East  Houston  Street," 
Holmes  observed,  quietly.  "To-mor 
row  I  shall  take  up  the  case,  track 
Nervy  to  his  lair,  secure  Mrs.  Robin 
son-Jones's  necklace,  return  it  to  the 
lady,  and  within  three  weeks  the 
Snatcher  will  take  up  his  abode  on 
the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  the  only 
banks  the  ordinary  cracksman  is 
anxious  to  avoid." 

"But  how  the  dickens  did  you 
manage  to  put  a  crook  like  that  on 
the  grand-tier  floor?"  I  demanded. 

"Jenkins,  what  a  child  you  are!" 
174 


"Nostalgia  of  Nervy  Jim' 

laughed  Holmes.  "How  did  I  get 
him  there?  Why,  I  set  him  up  with 
a  box  of  his  own,  directly  above  the 
Robinson-Jones  box — you  can  always 
get  one  for  a  single  performance  if 
you  are  willing  to  pay  for  it — and 
with  a  fair  expanse  of  shirt-front,  a 
claw-hammer  and  a  crush  hat  almost 
any  man  who  has  any  style  to  him 
at  all  these  days  can  pass  for  a  gentle 
man.  All  he  had  to  do  was  to  go  to 
the  opera-house,  present  his  ticket, 
walk  in  and  await  the  signal.  I  gave 
the  man  his  music  cue,  and  two 
minutes  before  the  lights  went  out 
he  sauntered  down  the  broad  stair 
case  to  the  door  of  the  Robinson- 
Jones  box,  and  was  ready  to  turn 
the  trick.  He  was  under  cover  of 
darkness  long  enough  to  get  away 
with  the  necklace,  and  when  the 
lights  came  back,  if  you  had  known 
enough  to  look  out  into  the  audi 
torium  you  would  have  seen  him 
back  there  in  his  box  above,  taking 


R.    Holmes   &    Co. 

in  the  situation  as  calmly  as  though 
he  had  himself  had  nothing  whatever 
to  do  with  it." 

"And  how  shall  you  trace  him?" 
I  demanded.  "Isn't  that  going  to 
be  a  little  dangerous?" 

"Not  if  he  followed  out  my  in 
structions,"  said  Holmes.  "If  he 
dropped  a  letter  addressed  to  him 
self  in  his  own  hand-writing  at  his 
East  Houston  Street  lair,  in  the  little 
anteroom  of  the  box,  as  I  told  him 
to  do,  we'll  have  all  the  clews  we 
need  to  run  him  to  earth." 

"But  suppose  the  police  find  it?" 
I  asked. 

"They  won't,"  laughed  Holmes. 
"They'll  spend  their  time  looking  for 
some  impecunious  member  of  the 
smart  set  who  might  have  done  the 
job.  They  always  try  to  find  the 
sensational  clew  first,  and  by  day 
after  to-morrow  morning  four  or  five 
poor  but  honest  members  of  the  four- 
hundred  will  find  when  they  read  the 
176 


"Nostalgia  of  Nervy  Jim* 

morning  papers  that  they  are  under 
surveillance,  while  I,  knowing  exactly 
what  has  happened  will  have  all  the 
start  I  need.  I  have  already  offered 
my  services,  and  by  ten  o'clock  to 
morrow  morning  they  will  be  accept 
ed,  as  will  also  those  of  half  a  hundred 
other  detectives,  professional  and 
amateur.  At  eleven  I  will  visit  the 
opera-house,  where  I  expect  to  find 
the  incriminating  letter  on  the  floor, 
or  if  the  cleaning  women  have  already 
done  their  work,  which  is  very  doubt 
ful,  I  will  find  it  later  among  the 
sweepings  of  waste  paper  in  the  cellar 
of  the  opera-house.  Accompanied  by 
two  plain-clothes  men  from  headquar 
ters  I  will  then  proceed  to  Nervy's 
quarters,  and,  if  he  is  really  sincere  in 
his  desire  to  go  to  jail  for  a  protracted 
period,  we  shall  find  him  there  giving 
an  imitation  of  a  gloat  over  his  booty. ' ' 
"And  suppose  the  incriminating 
letter  is  not  there?"  I  asked.  "He 
may  have  changed  his  mind." 
177 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

"I  have  arranged  for  that,"  said 
Holmes,  with  a  quick,  steely  glance 
at  me.  "I've  got  a  duplicate  letter 
in  my  pocket  now.  If  he  didn't  drop 
it,  I  will." 

But  Nervy  Jim  was  honest  at  least 
in  his  desire  for  a  permanent  residence 
in  an  up-to-date  penitentiary,  for, 
even  as  the  deed  itself  had  been 
accomplished  with  a  precision  that 
was  almost  automatic,  so  did  the 
work  yet  to  be  done  go  off  with  the 
nicety  of  a  well-regulated  schedule. 
Everything  came  about  as  Holmes 
had  predicted,  even  to  the  action  of 
the  police  in  endeavoring  to  fasten 
the  crime  upon  an  inoffensive  and 
somewhat  impecunious  social  dangler, 
whose  only  ambition  in  life  was  to 
lead  a  cotillion  well,  and  whose  sole 
idea  of  how  to  get  money  under  false 
pretences  was  to  make  some  over- 
rich  old  maid  believe  that  he  loved 
her  for  herself  alone  and  in  his 
heart  scorned  her  wealth.  Even  he 


"Nostalgia  of  Nervy  Jim' 

profited  by  this,  since  he  later  sued 
the  editor  who  printed  his  picture 
with  the  label  "A  Social  Highway 
man"  for  libel,  claiming  damages  of 
$50,000,  and  then  settled  the  case 
out  of  court  for  $15,000,  spot  cash. 
The  letter  was  found  on  the  floor 
of  the  box  where  Nervy  Jim  had 
dropped  it;  Holmes  and  his  plain- 
clothes  men  paid  an  early  visit  at 
the  East  Houston  Street  lodging- 
house,  and  found  the  happy  Snatcher 
snoring  away  in  his  cot  with  a  smile 
on  his  face  that  seemed  to  indicate 
that  he  was  dreaming  he  was  back 
in  a  nice  comfortable  jail  once  more; 
and,  as  if  to  make  assurance  doubly 
sure,  the  missing  necklace  hung  about 
his  swarthy  neck!  Short  work  was 
made  of  the  arrest;  Nervy  Jim, 
almost  embarrassingly  grateful,  was 
railroaded  to  Sing  Sing  in  ten  days' 
time,  for  fifteen  years,  and  Raffles 
Holmes  had  the  present  pleasure  and 
personal  satisfaction  of  restoring  the 
t3  179 


R.    Holmes  &   Co. 

lost  necklace   to   the   fair   hands  of 
Mrs.  Robinson-Jones  herself. 

"Look  at  that,  Jenkins!"  he  said, 
gleefully,  when  the  thing  was  all  over. 
"A  check  for  $10,000." 

"Well — that  isn't  so  much,  con 
sidering  the  value  of  the  necklace," 
said  I. 

"That's  the  funny  part  of  it," 
laughed  Holmes.  "Every  stone  in 
it  was  paste,  but  Mrs.  Robinson-Jones 
never  let  on  for  a  minute.  She  paid 
her  little  ten  thousand  rather  than 
have  it  known." 

"Great  Heavens! — really?"  I  said. 

"Yes,"  said  Holmes,  replacing  the 
check  in  his  pocket-book.  "She's 
almost  as  nervy  as  Nervy  Jim  him 
self.  She's  what  I  call  a  dead -game 
sport." 


IX 

THE    ADVENTURE    OF    ROOM    407 

RAFFLES  HOLMES  and  I  had 
walked  up -town  together.  It 
was  a  beastly  cold  night,  and  when  we 
reached  the  Hotel  Powhatan  my  com 
panion  suggested  that  we  stop  in  for 
a  moment  to  thaw  out  our  frozen 
cneeks,  and,  incidentally,  warm  up 
the  inner  man  with  some  one  of  the 
spirituous  concoctions  for  which  that 
hostelry  is  deservedly  famous.  I  nat 
urally  acquiesced,  and  in  a  moment 
we  sat  at  one  of  the  small  tables  in 
the  combination  reading  -  room  and 
cafe  of  the  hotel. 

"Queer  place,  this,"  said  Holmes, 
gazing  about  him  at  the  motley  com 
pany  of  guests.     "It  is  the  gathering 
181 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

place  of  the  noted  and  the  notorious. 
That  handsome  six-footer,  who  has 
just  left  the  room,  is  the  Reverend  Dr. 
Harkaway,  possibly  the  most  eloquent 
preacher  they  have  in  Boston.  At 
the  table  over  in  the  corner,  talking 
to  that  golden  -  haired  lady  with  a 
roasted  pheasant  on  her  head  in 
place  of  a  hat,  is  Jack  McBride,  the 
light-weight  champion  of  the  North 
west,  and — by  thunder,  Jenkins,  look 
at  that!" 

A  heavy-browed,  sharp-eyed  Eng 
lishman  appeared  in  the  doorway, 
stood  a  moment,  glanced  about  him 
eagerly,  and,  with  a  gesture  of  impa 
tience,  turned  away  and  disappeared 
in  the  throngs  of  the  corridor  without. 

"There's  something  doing  to  bring 
'Lord  Baskingford'  here,"  muttered 
Holmes. 

"Lord      Baskingford?"      said      I 
"Who's  he?" 

"He's   the   most   expert   diamond 
lifter  in  London,"  answered  Holmes. 
182 


Adventure  of  Room  407 

"  His  appearance  on  Piccadilly  was  a 
signal  always  to  Scotland  Yard  to 
wake  up,  and  to  the  jewellers  of  Bond 
Street  to  lock  up.  My  old  daddy 
used  to  say  that  Baskingford  could 
scent  a  Kohinoor  quicker  than  a 
hound  a  fox.  I  wonder  what  his 
game  is." 

" Is  he  a  real  lord?"  I  asked. 

"Real?"  laughed  Holmes.  "Yes 
— he's  a  real  Lord  of  the  Lifters,  if 
that's  what  you  mean,  but  if  you 
mean  does  he  belong  to  the  peerage, 
no.  His  real  name  is  Bob  Hollister. 
He  has  served  two  terms  in  Penton- 
ville,  escaped  once  from  a  Russian 
prison,  and  is  still  in  the  ring.  He's 
never  idle,  and  if  he  comes  to  the 
Powhatan  you  can  gamble  your  last 
dollar  on  it  that  he  has  a  good,  big 
stake  somewhere  in  the  neighbor 
hood.  We  must  look  over  the  list 
of  arrivals." 

We  finished  our  drink  and  settled 
the  score.  Holmes  sauntered,  in 

183 


R.   Holmes  &  Co. 

leisurely  fashion,  out  into  the  office, 
and,  leaning  easily  over  the  counter, 
inspected  the  register. 

"Got  any  real  live  dukes  in  the 
house  to-night,  Mr.  Sommers?"  he 
asked  of  the  clerk. 

"  Not  to-night,  Mr.  Holmes,"  laugh 
ed  the  clerk.  "We're  rather  shy  on 
the  nobility  to-night.  The  nearest 
we  come  to  anything  worth  while  in 
that  line  is  a  baronet  —  Sir  Henry 
Darlington  of  Dorsetshire,  England. 
We  can  show  you  a  nice  line  of  Cap 
tains  of  Industry,  however." 

"Thank  you,  Sommers,"  said 
Holmes,  returning  the  laugh.  "I 
sha'n't  trouble  you.  Fact  is,  I'm 
long  on  Captains  of  Industry  and 
was  just  a  bit  hungry  to-night  for  a 
dash  of  the  British  nobility.  Who  is 
Sir  Henry  Darlington  of  Dorsetshire, 
England?" 

"You  can  search  me,"  said  the 
clerk.  "I'm  too  busy  to  study  gene 
alogy — but  there's  a  man  here  who 
184 


Adventure    of  Room    407 

knows  who  he  is,  all  right,  all  right — 
at  least  I  judge  so  from  his  manner." 

"Who's  that?"  asked  Holmes. 

"  Himself,"  said  Sommers,  with  a 
chuckle.  "  Now's  your  chance  to  ask 
him — for  there  he  goes  into  the  Palm 
Room." 

We  glanced  over  in  the  direction 
indicated,  and  again  our  eyes  fell 
upon  the  muscular  form  of  "  Lord 
Baskingford." 

" Oh!"  said  Holmes.  "  Well— he  is 
a  pretty  fair  specimen,  isn't  he!  Lit 
tle  too  large  for  my  special  purpose, 
though,  Sommers,"  he  added,  "so 
you  needn't  wrap  him  up  and  send 
him  home." 

"All  right,  Mr.  Holmes,"  grinned 
the  clerk.  "  Come  in  again  some  time 
when  we  have  a  few  fresh  importa 
tions  in*  and  maybe  we  can  fix  you 
out." 

With  a  swift  glance  at  the  open 
page  of  the  register,  Holmes  bade  the 
clerk  good-night  and  we  walked  away. 

185 


R.   Holmes   &   Co. 

"  Room  407,"  he  said,  as  we  moved 
along  the  corridor.  "  Room  407 — we 
mustn't  forget  that.  His  lordship  is 
evidently  expecting  some  one,  and  I 
think  I'll  fool  around  for  a  while  and 
see  what's  in  the  wind." 

A  moment  or  two  later  we  came 
face  to  face  with  the  baronet,  and 
watched  him  as  he  passed  along  the 
great  hall,  scanning  every  face  in  the 
place,  and  on  to  the  steps  leading 
down  to  the  barber-shop,  which  he 
descended. 

"He's  anxious,  all  right,"  said 
Holmes,  as  we  sauntered  along.  "How 
would  you  like  to  take  a  bite,  Jenkins  ? 
I'd  like  to  stay  here  and  see  this 
out." 

"Very  good,"  said  I.  "I  find  it 
interesting." 

So  we  proceeded  towards  the  Palm 
Room  and  sat  down  to  order  our  re 
past.  Scarcely  were  we  seated  when 
one  of  the  hotel  boys,  resplendent 
in  brass  buttons,  strutted  through 
186 


Adventure  of  Room  407 

between  the  tables,  calling  aloud  in  a 
shrill  voice: 

"Telegram  for  four-o-seven.  Four 
hundred  and  seven,  telegram." 

"That's  the  number,  Raffles,"  I 
whispered,  excitedly. 

"I  know  it,"  he  said,  quietly. 
"Give  him  another  chance— 

"Telegram  for  number  four  hun 
dred  and  seven,"  called  the  buttons. 

"Here,  boy,"  said  Holmes,  nerving 
himself  up.  "Give  me  that." 

"Four  hundred  and  seven,  sir?" 
asked  the  boy. 

"Certainly,"  said  Holmes,  coolly. 
"Hand  it  over — any  charge?" 

"No,  sir,"  said  the  boy,  giving 
Raffles  the  yellow  covered  message. 

"Thank  you,"  said  Holmes,  tear 
ing  the  flap  open  carelessly  as  the 
boy  departed. 

And  just  then  the  fictitious  baronet 
entered  the  room, and,  as  Holmes  read 
his  telegram,  passed  by  us,  still  ap 
parently  in  search  of  the  unattain- 


R.   Holmes  &   Co. 

able,  little  dreaming  how  close  at 
hand  was  the  explanation  of  his 
troubles.  I  was  on  the  edge  of  ner 
vous  prostration,  but  Holmes  never 
turned  a  hair,  and,  save  for  a  slight 
tremor  of  his  hand,  no  one  would 
have  even  guessed  that  there  was 
anything  in  the  wind.  Sir  Henry 
Darlington  took  a  seat  in  the  far 
corner  of  the  room. 

"  That  accounts  for  his  uneasiness," 
said  Holmes,  tossing  the  telegram 
across  the  table. 

I  read:  "Slight  delay.  Will  meet 
you  at  eight  with  the  goods."  The 
message  was  signed :  ' '  Cato . ' ' 

"Let's  see,"  said  Holmes.  "It  is 
now  six-forty-five.  Here  —  lend  me 
your  fountain-pen,  Jenkins." 

I  produced  the  desired  article  and 
Holmes,  in  an  admirably  feigned 
hand,  added  to  the  message  the 
words:  "at  the  Abbey,  Lafayette 
Boulevard.  Safer,"  restored  it  in 
amended  form  to  its  envelope. 
188 


Adventure    of  Room    407 

"Call  one  of  the  bell-boys,  please," 
he  said  to  the  waiter. 

A  moment  later,  a  second  buttons 
appeared. 

"This  isn't  for  me,  boy,"  said 
Holmes,  handing  the  message  back 
to  him.  "  Better  take  it  to  the 
office." 

"Very  good,  sir,"  said  the  lad,  and 
off  he  went. 

A  few  minutes  after  this  incident, 
Sir  Henry  again  rose  impatiently  and 
left  the  room,  and,  at  a  proper  distance 
to  the  rear,  Holmes  followed  him. 
Darlington  stopped  at  the  desk,  and, 
observing  the  telegram  in  his  box, 
called  for  it  and  opened  it.  His  face 
flushed  as  he  tore  it  into  scraps  and 
made  for  the  elevator,  into  which  he 
disappeared. 

"He's  nibbling  the  bait  all  right," 
said  Holmes,  gleefully.  "We'll  just 
wait  around  here  until  he  starts,  and 
then  we'll  see  what  we  can  do  with 
Cato.  This  is  quite  an  adventure." 
189 


R.    Holmes   &    Co. 

"What  do  you  suppose  it's  all 
about?"  I  asked. 

"  I  don't  know  any  more  than  you 
do,  Jenkins,"  said  Holmes,  "save 
this,  that  old  Bob  Hollister  isn't 
playing  penny-ante.  When  he  goes 
on  to  a  job  as  elaborately  as  all  this, 
you  can  bet  your  last  dollar  that  the 
game  runs  into  five  figures,  and,  like  a 
loyal  subject  of  his  Gracious  Majesty 
King  Edward  VII.,  whom  may  the 
Lord  save,  he  reckons  not  in  dollars 
but  in  pounds  sterling." 

"Who  can  Cato  be,  I  wonder?"  I 
asked. 

"We'll  know  at  eight  o'clock," 
said  Holmes.  "I  intend  to  have 
him  up." 

"Up?     Up  where?"  I  asked. 

"In  Darlington's  rooms  —  where 
else?"  demanded  Holmes. 

"In  four  hundred  and  seven?"  I 
gasped. 

"Certainly — that's   our   headquar 
ters,  isn't  it?"  he  grinned. 
190 


Adventure   of  Room    407 

"Now  see  here,  Raffles,"  I  began. 

"Shut  up,  Jenkins,"  he  answered. 
"Just  hang  on  to  your  nerve— 

"But  suppose  Darlington  turns 
up?" 

"My  dear  boy,  the  Abbey  is  six 
miles  from  here  and  he  won't,  by 
any  living  chance,  get  back  before 
ten  o'clock  to-night.  We  shall  have 
a  good  two  hours  and  a  half  to  do  up 
old  Cato  without  any  interference 
from  him,"  said  Holmes.  "Suppose 
he  does  come — what  then?  I  rather 
doubt  if  Sir  Henry  Darlington,  of 
the  Hotel  Powhatan,  New  York,  or 
Dorsetshire,  England,  would  find  it 
altogether  pleasant  to  hear  a  few 
reminiscences  of  Bob  Hollister  of 
Pentonville  prison,  which  I  have  on 
tap." 

"  He'll  kick  up  the  deuce  of  a  row," 
I  protested. 

"Very  doubtful,  Jenkins,"  said 
Raffles.  "I  sort  of  believe  he'll  be 
as  gentle  as  a  lamb  when  he  finds 
191 


R.   Holmes  &   Co. 

out  what  I  know — but,  if  he  isn't, 
well,  don't  I  represent  law  and 
order?"  and  Holmes  displayed  a  de 
tective's  badge,  which  he  wore  for 
use  in  emergency  cases,  pinned  to 
the  inner  side  of  his  suspenders. 

As  he  spoke,  Darlington  reappeared, 
and,  leaving  his  key  at  the  office,  went 
out  through  the  revolving  doorway, 
and  jumped  into  a  hansom. 

"  Where  to,  sir  ?"  asked  the  cabman. 

"The  Abbey,"  said  Darlington. 

"They're  off!"  whispered  Holmes, 
with  a  laugh.  "And  now  for  Mr. 
Cato." 

We  walked  back  through  the  office, 
and,  as  we  passed  the  bench  upon 
which  the  bell-boys  sat,  Raffles 
stopped  before  the  lad  who  had 
delivered  the  telegram  to  him. 

"Here,  son,"  he  said,  handing  him 
a  quarter,  "run  over  to  the  news 
stand  and  get  me  a  copy  of  this 
months  Salmagundi — I'll  be  in  the 
smoking-room. ' ' 

192 


Adventure    of  Room    407 

The  boy  went  off  on  his  errand,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  returned  with  a 
magazine. 

"Thanks,"  said  Holmes.  "Now 
get  me  my  key  and  we'll  call  it 
square." 

"Four  hundred  and  seven,  sir?" 
said  the  boy,  with  a  smile  of  recogni 
tion. 

"Yep,"  said  Holmes,  laconically, 
as  he  leaned  back  in  his  chair  and 
pretended  to  read. 

"Gad,  Holmes,  what  a  nerve!"  I 
muttered. 

"We  need  it  in  this  business," 
said  he. 

The  buttons  returned  and  delivered 
the  key  of  Sir  Henry  Darlington's 
apartment  into  the  hands  of  Raffles 
Holmes. 

Ten  minutes  later  we  sat  in  room 
407 — I  in  a  blue  funk  from  sheer 
nervousness,  Raffles  Holmes  as  im 
perturbable  as  the  rock  of  Gibraltar 
from  sheer  nerve.  It  was  the  usual 


R.   Holmes    &  Co. 

style  of  hotel  room,  with  bath,  pict 
ures,  telephone,  what-nots,  ward 
robes,  and  centre-table.  The  last 
proved  to  be  the  main  point  of  in 
terest  upon  our  arrival.  It  was  lit 
tered  up  with  papers  of  one  sort  and 
another:  letters,  bills  receipted  and 
otherwise,  and  a  large  assortment  of 
railway  and  steamship  folders.  "  He 
knows  how  to  get  away, ' '  was  Holmes 's 
comment  on  the  latter.  Most  of  the 
letters  were  addressed  to  Sir  Henry 
Darlington,  in  care  of  Bruce,  Watkins, 
Brownleigh  &  Co.,  bankers. 

"  Same  old  game,"  laughed  Holmes, 
as  he  read  the  superscription.  "The 
most  conservative  banking-house  in 
New  York!  It's  amazing  how  such 
institutions  issue  letters  indiscrimi 
nately  to  any  Tom,  Dick,  or  Harry 
who  comes  along  and  planks  down 
his  cash.  They  don't  seem  to  realize 
that  they  thereby  unconsciously  lend 
the  glamour  of  their  own  respectabil 
ity  and  credit  to  people  who,  instead 
194 


Adventure   of  Room   407 

of  travelling  abroad,  should  be  locked 
up  in  the  most  convenient  peniten 
tiary  at  home.  Aha !' '  Holmes  added, 
as  he  ran  his  eye  over  some  of  the 
other  documents  and  came  upon  a 
receipted  bill.  "We're  getting  close 
to  it,  Jenkins.  Here's  a  receipted  bill 
from  Bar,  LeDuc  &  Co.,  of  Fifth 
Avenue,  for  $15,000  —  three  rings, 
one  diamond  necklace,  a  ruby  stick 
pin,  and  a  set  of  pearl  shirt-studs." 

"Yes,"  said  I,  "but  what  is  there 
suspicious  about  that  ?  If  the  things 
are  paid  for — 

"Precisely,"  laughed  Holmes. 
"  They're  paid  for.  Sir  Henry  Dar 
lington  has  enough  working  capital 
to  buy  all  the  credit  he  needs  with 
Messrs.  Bar,  LeDuc  &  Co.  There 
isn't  a  house  in  this  town  that,  after 
a  cash  transaction  of  that  kind, 
conducted  through  Bruce,  Watkins, 
Brownleigh  &  Co.,  wouldn't  send  its 
own  soul  up  on  approval  to  a  nice, 
clean  -  cut  member  of  the  British 

14  195 


R.  Holmes    &    Co. 

aristocracy  like  Sir  Henry  Darling 
ton.  We're  on  the  trail,  Jenkins— 
we're  on  the  trail.  Here's  a  letter 
from  Bar,  LeDuc  &  Co.  —  let's  see 
what  light  that  sheds  on  the  mat 
ter." 

Holmes  took  a  letter  from  an 
envelope  and  read,  rapidly: 

"Sir  Henry  Darlington  —  care  of 
Bruce,  Watkins  and  so  forth — dear 
Sir  Henry — We  are  having  some 
difficulty  matching  the  pearls — they 
are  of  unusual  quality,  but  we  hope 
to  have  the  necklace  ready  for  de 
livery  as  requested  on  Wednesday 
afternoon  at  the  office  of  Messrs. 
Bruce,  Watkins  and  so  forth,  between 
five  and  six  o'clock.  Trusting  the 
delay  will  not — and  so  forth — and 
hoping  to  merit  a  continuance  of 
your  valued  favors,  we  beg  to  remain, 
and  so  forth,  and  so  forth. 

"That's  it,"  said  Holmes.  " It's  a 
necklace  that  Mr.  Cato  is  bringing  up 
to  Sir  Henry  Darlington — and,  once 
196 


Adventure   of   Room    407 

in  his  possession — it's  Sir  Henry  for 
some  place  on  one  of  these  folders." 

"  Why  don't  they  send  them  direct 
ly  here?"  I  inquired. 

"It  is  better  for  Darlington  to 
emphasize  Bruce,  Watkins,  Brown- 
leigh  &  Co.,  and  not  to  bank  too 
much  on  the  Hotel  Powhatan,  that's 
why,"  said  Holmes.  "What's  the 
good  of  having  bankers  like  that  back 
of  you  if  you  don't  underscore  their 
endorsement?  Anyhow,  we've  dis 
covered  the  job,  Jenkins;  to-day  is 
Wednesday,  and  the  '  goods '  Cato  has 
to  deliver  and  referred  to  in  his  tele 
gram  is  the  pearl  necklace  of  unusual 
quality — hence  not  less  than  a  $50,- 
ooo  stake." 

At  this  point  the  telephone  bell 
rang. 

"Hello,"  said  Holmes,  answering 
immediately,  and  in  a  voice  entirely 
unlike  his  own.  "Yes — what?  Oh 
yes.  Ask  him  to  come  up." 

He  hung  up  the  receiver,  put  a 
197 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

cigar  in  his  mouth,  lit  it,  and  turned 
to  me. 

"It's  Cato  —  just  called.  Coming 
up,"  said  he. 

"I  wish  to  Heavens  I  was  going 
down,"  I  ejaculated. 

"You're  a  queer  duck,  Jenkins," 
grinned  Holmes.  "Here  you  are 
with  a  front  seat  at  what  promises 
to  be  one  of  the  greatest  shows  on 
earth,  a  real  live  melodrama,  and  all 
you  can  think  of  is  home  and  mother. 
Brace  up — for  here  he  is." 

There  was  a  knock  on  the  door. 

"Come  in,"  said  Holmes,  cheerily. 

A  tall,  cadaverous  -  looking  man 
opened  the  door  and  entered.  As 
his  eye  fell  upon  us,  he  paused  on 
the  threshold. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  he  said.  "  I 
—I'm  afraid  I'm  in  the  wrong— 

"Not    at    all  —  come    in    and   sit 
down,"  said  Holmes,  cordially.  "That 
is  if  you  are  our  friend  and  partner, 
Cato — Darlington  couldn't  wait— 
198 


Adventure    of  Room    407 

" Couldn't  wait?"  said  Cato. 

"Nope,"  said  Holmes.  "He  was 
very  much  annoyed  by  the  delay, 
Cato.  You  see  he's  on  bigger  jobs 
than  this  puny  little  affair  of  Bar, 
LeDuc's,  and  your  failure  to  appear 
on  schedule  time  threw  him  out. 
Pearls  aren't  the  only  chips  in  Dar 
lington's  game,  my  boy." 

"Well  — I  couldn't  help  it,"  said 
Cato.  "  Bar,  LeDuc's  messenger 
didn't  get  down  there  until  five 
minutes  of  six." 

"Why  should  that  have  kept  you 
until  eight?"  said  Holmes. 

"I've  got  a  few  side  jobs  of  my 
own,"  growled  Cato. 

"That's  what  Darlington  imag 
ined,"  said  Holmes,  "and  I  don't 
envy  you  your  meeting  with  him 
when  he  comes  in.  He's  a  cyclone 
when  he's  mad  and  if  you've  got  a 
cellar  handy  I'd  advise  you  to  get 
it  ready  for  occupancy.  Where's  the 
stuff?" 

199 


R.   Holmes    &   Co. 

"In  here,"  said  Cato,  tapping  his 
chest. 

"Well,"  observed  Holmes,  quietly, 
"we'd  better  make  ourselves  easy 
until  the  Chief  returns.  You  don't 
mind  if  I  write  a  letter,  do  you?" 

"Go  ahead,"  said  Cato.  "Don't 
mind  me." 

"Light  up,"  said  Holmes,  tossing 
him  a  cigar,  and  turning  to  the  table 
where  he  busied  himself  for  the  next 
five  minutes,  apparently  writing. 

Cato  smoked  away  in  silence,  and 
picked  up  Holmes 's  copy  of  the  Sal 
magundi  Magazine  which  lay  on  the 
bureau,  and  shortly  became  absorbed 
in  its  contents.  As  for  me,  I  had  to 
grip  both  sides  of  my  chair  to  con 
ceal  my  nervousness.  My  legs  fair 
ly  shook  with  terror.  The  silence, 
broken  only  by  the  scratching  of 
Holmes 's  pen,  was  becoming  unen 
durable  and  I  think  I  should  have 
given  way  and  screamed  had  not 
Holmes  suddenly  risen  and  walked 
200 


Adventure    of  Room   407 

to  the  telephone,  directly  back  of 
where  Cato  was  sitting. 

"  I  must  ring  for  stamps, "  he  said. 
"  There  don't  seem  to  be  any  here. 
Darlington's  getting  stingy  in  his  old 
age.  Hello,"  he  called,  but  without 
removing  the  receiver  from  the  hook. 
"  Hello — send  me  up  a  dollar's  worth 
of  two  -  cent  stamps  —  thank  you. 
Good-bye." 

Cato  read  on,  but,  in  a  moment, 
the  magazine  dropped  from  his  hand 
to  the  floor.  Holmes  was  at  his  side 
and  the  cold  muzzle  of  a  revolver 
pressed  uncomfortably  against  his 
right  temple. 

"That  bureau  cover — quick,"  Raf 
fles  cried,  sharply,  to  me. 

"What  are  you  doing?"  gasped 
Cato,  his  face  turning  a  greenish- 
yellow  with  fear. 

"Another    sound    from    you    and 

you're   a   dead   one,"    said   Holmes. 

"You'll  see  what  I'm  doing  quickly 

enough.     Twist  it  into  a  rope,  Jim," 

20 1 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

he  added,  addressing  me.  I  did  as  I 
was  bade  with  the  linen  cover, 
snatching  it  from  the  bureau,  and  a 
second  later  we  had  Cato  gagged. 
"Now  tie  his  hands  and  feet  with 
those  curtain  cords,"  Holmes  went 
on. 

Heavens!  how  I  hated  the  job,  but 
there  was  no  drawing  back  now! 
We  had  gone  too  far  for  that. 

"There!"  said  Holmes,  as  we  laid 
our  victim  out  on  the  floor,  tied  hand 
and  foot  and  as  powerless  to  speak 
as  though  he  had  been  born  deaf  and 
dumb.  "We'll  just  rifle  your  chest, 
Cato,  and  stow  you  away  in  the  bath 
tub  with  a  sofa-cushion  under  your 
head  to  make  you  comfortable,  and 
bid  you  farewell — not  au  revoir,  Cato, 
but  just  plain  farewell  forever." 

The  words  were  hardly  spoken  be 
fore  the  deed  was  accomplished. 
Tearing  aside  poor  Cato's  vest  and 
shirt-front,  Raffles  placed  himself  in 
possession  of  the  treasure  from  Bar, 

202 


Adventure    of  Room  407 

LeDuc  &  Co.,  after  which  we  lay 
Darlington's  unhappy  confederate  at 
full  length  in  the  porcelain  -  lined 
tub,  placed  a  sofa-cushion  under  his 
head  to  mitigate  his  sufferings,  locked 
him  in,  and  started  for  the  elevator. 

" Great  Heavens,  Raffles!"  I  chat 
tered,  as  we  emerged  upon  the  street. 
"What  will  be  the  end  of  this?  It's 
awful.  When  Sir  Henry  returns— 

"I  wish  I  could  be  there  to  see," 
said  he,  with  a  chuckle. 

"I  guess  we'll  see,  quick  enough. 
I  leave  town  to-morrow,"  said  I. 

"Nonsense,"  said  Holmes.  "Don't 
you  worry.  I  put  a  quietus  on  Sir 
Henry  Darlington.  He'll  leave  town 
to-night,  and  we'll  never  hear  from 
him  again  —  that  is,  not  in  this 
matter." 

"But  how?"  I  demanded,  far  from 
convinced. 

"I  wrote  him  a  letter  in  which  I 
said:   'You  will  find  your  treasure  in 
the  bath-tub,'"  laughed  Holmes. 
203 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

"  And  that  will  drive  him  from  New 
York,  and  close  his  mouth  forever!" 
I  observed,  sarcastically.  "So  very 
likely!" 

"No,  Jenkins,  not  that,  but  the 
address,  my  dear  boy,  the  address. 
I  put  that  message  in  an  envelope, 
and  left  it  on  his  table  where  he'll 
surely  see  it  the  first  thing  when 
he  gets  back  to-night,  addressed  to 
'Bob  Hollister,'  Diamond  Merchant, 
Cell  No.  99,  Pentonville  Prison." 

"Aha!"  said  I,  my  doubts  clearing. 

"Likewise — Ho-ho,"  said  Holmes. 
"It  is  a  delicate  intimation  to  Sir 
Henry  Darlington  that  somebody  is 
on  to  his  little  game,  and  he'll 
evaporate  before  dawn." 

A  week  later,  Holmes  brought  me 
a  magnificent  pearl  scarf-pin. 

"What's  that?"  I  asked. 

"Your  share  of  the  swag,"  he 
answered.  "  I  returned  the  pearl 
necklace  to  Bar,  LeDuc  &  Co.,  with 
204 


Adventure    of  Room   407 

a  full  statement  of  how  it  came  into 
my  possession.  They  rewarded  me 
with  this  ruby  ring  and  that  stick 
pin." 

Holmes  held  up  his  right  hand,  on 
the  fourth  finger  of  which  glistened  a 
brilliant  blood-red  stone  worth  not 
less  than  fifteen  hundred  dollars. 

I  breathed  a  sigh  of  relief. 

"  I  wondered  what  you  were  going 
to  do  with  the  necklace,"  I  said. 

"So  did  I— for  three  days,"  said 
Holmes,  "and  then,  when  I  realized 
that  I  was  a  single  man,  I  decided  to 
give  it  up.  If  I'd  had  a  wife  to  wear 
a  necklace — well,  I'm  a  little  afraid 
the  Raffles  side  of  my  nature  would 
have  won  out." 

"I  wonder  whatever  became  of 
Darlington,"  said  I. 

"  I  don't  know.  Sommers  says  he 
left  town  suddenly  that  same  Wednes 
day  night,  without  paying  his  bill," 
Holmes  answered. 

"AndCato?" 

205 


R.  Holmes    &    Co. 

"I  didn't  inquire,  but,  from  what 
I  know  of  Bob  Hollister,  I  am  rather 
inclined  to  believe  that  Cato  left  the 
Powhatan  by  way  of  the  front  win 
dow,  or  possibly  out  through  the 
plumbing,  in  some  way,"  laughed 
Holmes.  "  Either  way  would  be  the 
most  comfortable  under  the  circum 
stances." 


X 

THE  MAJOR-GENERAL'S  PEPPER-POTS 

I  HAD  often  wondered  during  the 
winter  whether  or  no  it  would  be 
quite  the  proper  thing  for  me  to  take 
my  friend  Raffles  Holmes  into  the 
sacred  precincts  of  my  club.  By 
some  men — and  I  am  one  of  them— 
the  club,  despite  the  bad  name  that 
clubs  in  general  have  as  being  antag 
onistic  to  the  home,  is  looked  upon  as 
an  institution  that  should  be  guarded 
almost  as  carefully  against  the  intru 
sion  of  improper  persons  as  is  one's 
own  habitat,  and  while  I  should  never 
have  admitted  for  a  moment  that 
Raffles  was  an  undesirable  chap  to 
have  around,  I  could  not  deny  that 
in  view  of  certain  characteristics 
207 


R.   Holmes  &  Co. 

which  I  knew  him  to  possess,  the 
propriety  of  taking  him  into  "The 
Heraclean"  was  seriously  open  to 
question.  My  doubts  were  set  at 
rest,  however,  on  that  point  one  day 
in  January  last,  when  I  observed 
seated  at  one  of  our  luncheon-tables 
the  Reverend  Dr.  Mulligatawnny, 
Rector  of  Saint  Mammon  -  in  -  the - 
Fields,  a  highly  esteemed  member 
of  the  organization,  who  had  with 
him  no  less  a  person  than  Mr.  E. 
H.  Merryman,  the  railway  magnate, 
whose  exploits  in  Wall  Street  have 
done  much  to  give  to  that  golden 
highway  the  particular  kind  of  per 
fume  which  it  now  exudes  to  the 
nostrils  of  people  of  sensitive  honor. 
Surely,  if  Dr.  Mulligatawnny  was 
within  his  rights  in  having  Mr. 
Merryman  present,  I  need  have  no 
misgivings  as  to  mine  in  having 
Raffles  Holmes  at  the  same  table. 
The  predatory  instinct  in  his  nature 
was  as  a  drop  of  water  in  the  sea  to 
208 


The    Pepper-pots 

that  ocean  of  known  acquisitiveness 
which  has  floated  Mr.  Merryman  into 
his  high  place  in  the  world  of  finance, 
and  as  far  as  the  moral  side  of  the 
two  men  was  concerned  respectively, 
I  felt  tolerably  confident  that  the 
Recording  Angel's  account  -  books 
would  show  a  larger  balance  on  the 
right  side  to  the  credit  of  Raffles 
than  to  that  of  his  more  famous 
contemporary.  Hence  it  was  that  I 
decided  the  question  in  my  friend's 
favor,  and  a  week  or  two  later  had 
him  in  at  "The  Heraclean"  for 
luncheon.  The  dining-room  was  fill 
ed  with  the  usual  assortment  of  inter 
esting  men — men  who  had  really  done 
something  in  life  and  who  suffered 
from  none  of  that  selfish  modesty 
which  leads  some  of  us  to  hide  our 
light  under  the  bushel  of  silence. 
There  was  the  Honorable  Poultry 
Tickletoe,  the  historian,  whose  arti 
cles  on  the  shoddy  quality  of  the 
modern  Panama  hat  have  created 
209 


R.  Holmes  6c  Co. 

such  a  stir  throughout  the  hat  trade ; 
Mr.  William  Darlington  Ponkapog, 
the  poet,  whose  epic  on  the  "Reign 
of  Gold  "  is  one  of  the  longest,  and 
some  writers  say  the  thickest,  in  the 
English  language ;  James  Whistleton 
Potts,  the  eminent  portraitist,  whose 
limnings  of  his  patients  have  won 
him  a  high  place  among  the  carica 
turists  of  the  age;  Robert  Dozy- 
phrase,  the  expatriated  American 
novelist,  now  of  London,  whose  latest 
volume  of  sketches,  entitled  Intrica 
cies,  has  been  equally  the  delight  of  his 
followers  and  the  despair  of  students 
of  the  occult;  and,  what  is  more  to 
the  purpose  of  our  story,  Major-Gen- 
eral  Carrington  Cox,  U.  S.  A.,  retired. 
These  gentlemen,  with  others  of  equal 
distinction  whom  I  have  not  the  space 
to  name,  were  discussing  with  some 
degree  of  simultaneity  their  own 
achievements  in  the  various  fields  of 
endeavor  to  which  their  lives  had 
been  devoted.  They  occupied  the 

210 


The    Pepper-pots 

large  centre-table  which  has  for  many 
a  year  been  the  point  of  contact  for 
the  distinguished  minds  of  which  the 
membership  of  "The  Heraclean"  is 
made  up;  the  tennis-net,  as  it  were, 
over  which  the  verbal  balls  of  discus 
sion  have  for  so  many  years  volleyed 
to  the  delight  of  countless  listeners. 
Raffles  and  I  sat  apart  at  one  of  the 
smaller  tables  by  the  window,  where 
we  could  hear  as  much  of  the  conver 
sation  at  the  larger  board  as  we 
wished — so  many  members  of  "The 
Heraclean"  are  deaf  that  to  talk  loud 
has  become  quite  de  rigueitr  there— 
and  at  the  same  time  hold  converse 
with  each  other  in  tones  best  suited 
to  the  confidential  quality  of  our 
communications.  We  had  enjoyed 
the  first  two  courses  of  our  repast 
when  we  became  aware  that  General 
Carrington  Cox  had  succeeded  in 
getting  the  floor,  and  as  he  proceeded 
with  what  he  had  to  say,  I  observed, 
in  spite  of  his  efforts  to  conceal  the 

15  211 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

fact,  that  Raffles  Holmes  was  rather 
more  deeply  interested  in  the  story 
the  General  was  telling  than  in  such 
chance  observations  as  I  was  making. 
Hence  I  finished  the  luncheon  in 
silence  and  even  as  did  Holmes, 
listened  to  the  General's  periods— 
and  they  were  as  usual  worth  listen 
ing  to. 

"It  was  in  the  early  eighties," 
said  General  Cox.  "  I  was  infor 
mally  attached  to  the  Spanish  le 
gation  at  Madrid.  The  King  of 
Spain,  Alphonso  XII.,  was  about  to 
be  married  to  the  highly  esteemed 
lady  who  is  now  the  Queen -Moth 
er  of  that  very  interesting  youth, 
Alphonso  XIII.  In  anticipation  of 
the  event  the  city  was  in  a  fever  of 
gayety  and  excitement  that  always 
attends  upon  a  royal  function  of 
that  nature.  Madrid  was  crowded 
with  visitors  of  all  sorts,  some  of 
them  not  as  desirable  as  they  might 
be,  and  here  and  there,  in  the  neces- 

212 


The   Pepper-pots 

sary  laxity  of  the  hour,  one  or  two 
perhaps  that  were  most  inimical  to 
the  personal  safety  and  general  wel 
fare  of  the  King.  Alphonso,  like 
many  another  royal  personage,  was 
given  to  the  old  Haroun.  Al  Raschid 
habit  of  travelling  about  at  night  in 
a  more  or  less  impenetrable  incognito, 
much  to  the  distaste  of  his  ministers 
and  to  the  apprehension  of  the  police, 
who  did  not  view  with  any  too  much 
satisfaction  the  possibility  of  disaster 
to  the  royal  person  and  the  conse 
quent  blame  that  would  rest  upon 
their  shoulders  should  anything  of  a 
serious  nature  befall.  To  all  of  this, 
however,  the  King  was  oblivious,  and 
it  so  happened  one  night  that  in  the 
course  of  his  wanderings  he  met  with 
the  long  dreaded  mix-up.  He  and 
his  two  companions  fell  in  with  a 
party  of  cut-throats  who  promptly 
proceeded  to  hold  them  up.  The 
companions  were  speedily  put  out  of 
business  by  the  attacking  party,  and 
213 


R.   Holmes  &  Co. 

the  King  found  himself  in  the  midst 
of  a  very  serious  misadventure,  the 
least  issue  from  which  bade  fair  to 
be  a  thorough  beating,  if  not  an 
attempt  upon  his  life.  It  was  at  the 
moment  when  his  chances  of  escape 
were  not  one  in  a  million,  when,  on 
my  way  home  from  the  Legation, 
where  I  had  been  detained  to  a  very 
late  hour,  I  came  upon  him  struggling 
in  the  hands  of  four  as  nasty  ruffians 
as  you  will  find  this  side  of  the  gal 
lows.  One  of  them  held  him  by  the 
arms,  another  was  giving  him  a  fair 
ly  expert  imitation  of  how  it  feels  to 
be  garroted,  while  the  other  two  were 
rifling  his  pockets.  This  was  too 
much  for  me.  I  was  in  pretty  fit 
physical  condition  at  that  time  and 
felt  myself  to  be  quite  the  equal  in 
a  good  old  Anglo-Saxon  fist  fight  of 
any  dozen  ordinary  Castilians,  so  I 
plunged  into  the  fray,  heart  and  soul, 
not  for  an  instant  dreaming,  however, 
what  was  the  quality  of  the  person  to 
214 


The    Pepper-pots 

whose  assistance  I  had  come.  My 
first  step  was  to  bowl  over  the  gar- 
roter.  Expecting  no  interference  in 
his  nefarious  pursuit  and  unwarned 
by  his  companions,  who  were  too 
busily  engaged  in  their  adventure  of 
loot  to  observe  my  approach,  he  was 
easy  prey,  and  the  good,  hard  whack 
that  I  gave  him  just  under  his  right 
ear  sent  him  flying,  an  unconscious 
mass  of  villanous  clay,  into  the  gut 
ter.  The  surprise  of  the  onslaught 
was  such  that  the  other  three  jump 
ed  backward,  thereby  releasing  the 
King's  arms  so  that  we  were  now  two 
to  three,  which  in  a  moment  became 
two  to  two,  for  I  lost  no  time  in 
knocking  out  my  second  man  with  as 
pretty  a  solar  plexus  as  you  ever  saw. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  world  more 
demoralizing  than  a  good,  solid  blow 
straight  from  the  shoulder  to  chaps 
whose  idea  of  fighting  is  to  sneak  up 
behind  you  and  choke  you  to  death,  or 
to  stick  a  knife  into  the  small  of  your 
2I5 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

back,  and  had  I  been  far  less  expert 
with  my  fists,  I  should  still  have  had 
an  incalculable  moral  advantage  over 
such  riffraff.  Once  the  odds  in  the 
matter  of  numbers  were  even,  the 
King  and  I  had  no  further  difficulty 
in  handling  the  others.  His  Majesty's 
quarry  got  away  by  the  simple  act  of 
taking  to  his  heels,  and  mine,  turning 
to  do  likewise,  received  a  salute  from 
my  right  toe  which,  if  I  am  any  judge, 
must  have  driven  the  upper  end  of 
his  spine  up  through  the  top  of  his 
head.  Left  alone,  his  Majesty  held 
out  his  hand  and  thanked  me  pro 
fusely  for  my  timely  aid,  and  asked 
my  name.  We  thereupon  bade  each 
other  good-night,  and  I  went  on  to 
my  lodging,  little  dreaming  of  the 
service  I  had  rendered  to  the  nation. 
"The  following  day  I  was  aston 
ished  to  receive  at  the  Legation  a 
communication  bearing  the  royal 
seal,  commanding  me  to  appear  at 
the  palace  at  once.  The  summons 
216 


The    Pepper-pots 

was  obeyed,  and,  upon  entering  the 
palace,  I  was  immediately  ushered 
into  the  presence  of  the  King.  He 
received  me  most  graciously,  dismiss 
ing,  however,  all  his  attendants. 

'"Colonel  Cox,'  he  said,  after  the 
first  formal  greetings  were  over,  '  you 
rendered  me  a  great  service  last 
night.' 

"'I,  your  Majesty?'  said  I.  'In 
what  way  ? ' 

"'By  putting  those  ruffians  to 
flight,'  said  he. 

"'Ah!'  said  I.  'Then  the  gentle 
man  attacked  was  one  of  your 
Majesty's  friends?' 

'"I  would  have  it  so  appear/  said 
the  King.  '  For  a  great  many  reasons 
I  should  prefer  that  it  were  not  known 
that  it  was  I— 

'"You,    your    Majesty?'    I    cried, 
really  astonished.     '  I  had  no  idea — 
'  You  are  discretion  itself,  Colonel 
Cox,'    laughed    the    King,    'and    to 
assure  you  of  my  appreciation  of  the 
217 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

fact,  I  beg  that  you  will  accept  a  small 
gift  which  you  will  some  day  shortly 
receive  anonymously.  It  will  not  be 
at  all  commensurate  to  the  service 
you  have  rendered  me,  nor  to  the 
discretion  which  you  have  already  so 
kindly  observed  regarding  the  princi 
pals  involved  in  last  night's  affair, 
but  in  the  spirit  of  friendly  interest 
and  appreciation  back  of  it,  it  will 
be  of  a  value  inestimable.' 

"  I  began  to  try  to  tell  his  Majesty 
that  my  government  did  not  permit 
me  to  accept  gifts  of  any  kind  from 
persons  royal  or  otherwise,  but  it  was 
not  possible  to  do  so,  and  twenty 
minutes  later  my  audience  was  over 
and  I  returned  to  the  Legation  with 
the  uncomfortable  sense  of  having 
placed  myself  in  a  position  where  I 
must  either  violate  the  King's  confi 
dence  to  acquire  the  permission  of 
Congress  to  accept  his  gift,  or  break 
the  laws  by  which  all  who  are  con 
nected  with  the  diplomatic  service, 
218 


The    Pepper-pots 

directly  or  indirectly,  are  strictly 
governed.  I  assure  you  it  was  not 
in  the  least  degree  in  the  hope  of 
personal  profit  that  I  chose  the  latter 
course.  Ten  days  later  a  pair  of 
massive  golden  pepper-pots  came  to 
me,  and,  as  the  King  had  intimated 
would  be  the  case,  there  was  nothing 
about  them  to  show  whence  they  had 
come.  Taken  altogether,  they  were 
the  most  exquisitely  wrought  speci 
mens  of  the  goldsmith's  artistry  that 
I  had  ever  seen,  and  upon  their  under 
side  was  inscribed  in  a  cipher  which 
no  one  unfamiliar  with  the  affair  of 
that  midnight  fracas  would  even  have 
observed — *  A.  R.  to  C.  C.' — Alphonso 
Rex  to  Carrington  Cox  being,  of 
course,  the  significance  thereof.  They 
were  put  away  with  my  other  belong 
ings,  and  two  years  later,  when  my 
activities  were  transferred  to  London, 
I  took  them  away  with  me. 

"In    London    I    chose    to    live    in 
chambers,  and  was  soon  established 
219 


R.   Holmes   &    Co. 

at  No.  7  Park  Place,  St.  James's,  a 
more  than  comfortable  and  centrally 
located  apartment  -  house  where  I 
found  pretty  much  everything  in  the 
way  of  convenience  that  a  man  situ 
ated  as  I  was  could  reasonably  ask  for. 
I  had  not  been  there  more  than  six 
months,  however,  when  something 
happened  that  made  the  ease  of 
apartment  life  seem  somewhat  less 
desirable.  That  is,  my  rooms  were 
broken  open  during  my  absence  over 
night  on  a  little  canoeing  trip  to 
Henley,  and  about  everything  valu 
able  in  my  possession  was  removed, 
including  the  truly  regal  pepper-pots 
sent  me  by  his  Majesty  the  King  of 
Spain,  that  I  had  carelessly  left  stand 
ing  upon  my  sideboard. 

"  Until  last  week,"  the  General  con 
tinued,  "nor  hide  nor  hair  of  any  of 
my  stolen  possessions  was  ever  dis 
covered,  but  last  Thursday  night  I 
accepted  the  invitation  of  a  gentle 
man  well  known  in  this  country  as  a 

220 


The    Pepper-pots 

leader  of  finance,  a  veritable  Captain 
of  Industry,  the  soul  of  honor  and 
one  of  the  most  genial  hosts  imagi 
nable.  I  sat  clown  at  his  table  at  eight 
o'clock,  and,  will  you  believe  me,  gen 
tlemen,  one  of  the  first  objects  to 
greet  my  eye  upon  the  brilliantly  set 
napery  was  nothing  less  than  one  of 
my  lost  pepper-pots.  There  was  no 
mistaking  it.  Unique  in  pattern,  it 
was  certain  of  identification  anyhow, 
but  what  made  it  the  more  certain 
was  the  cipher  'A.  R.  to  C.  C.'" 

"And  of  course  you  claimed  it?" 
asked  Dozyphrase. 

"  Of  course  I  did  nothing  of  the 
sort/'  retorted  the  General.  "  I  trust 
I  am  not  so  lacking  in  manners.  I 
merely  remarked  its  beauty  and 
quaintness  and  massiveness  and  gen 
eral  artistry.  My  host  expressed 
pleasure  at  my  appreciation  of  its 
qualities  and  volunteered  the  infor 
mation  that  it  was  a  little  thing  he 
had  picked  up  in  a  curio  shop  on 
221 


R.  Holmes    &    Co. 

Regent  Street,  London,  last  summer. 
He  had  acquired  it  in  perfect  good 
faith.  What  its  history  had  been 
from  the  time  I  lost  it  until  then,  I 
am  not  aware,  but  there  it  was,  and 
under  circumstances  of  such  a  char 
acter  that  although  it  was  indubitably 
my  property,  a  strong  sense  of  the 
proprieties  prevented  me  from  re 
gaining  its  possession." 

"Who  was  your  host,  General?" 
asked  Tickletoe. 

The  General  laughed.  "  That's  tell 
ing,"  said  he.  "I  don't  care  to  go 
into  any  further  details,  because  some 
of  you  well-meaning  friends  of  mine 
might  suggest  to  Mr. — ahem — ha— 
well,  never  mind  his  name — that  he 
should  return  the  pepper-pot,  and  I 
know  that  that  is  what  he  would  do 
if  he  were  familiar  with  the  facts 
that  I  have  just  narrated." 

It  was  at  about  this  point  that  the 
gathering  broke  up,  and,  after  our 
cigars,  Holmes  and  I  left  the  club. 

222 


The  Pepper-pots 

"  Come  up  to  my  rooms  a  moment," 
said  Raffles,  as  we  emerged  upon  the 
street.  "  I  want  to  show  you  some 
thing." 

"  All  right,"  said  I.  "  I've  nothing 
in  particular  to  do  this  afternoon. 
That  was  a  rather  interesting  tale  of 
the  General's,  wasn't  it?"  I  added. 

"Very,"  said  Holmes.  "I  guess 
it's  not  an  uncommon  experience, 
however,  in  these  days,  for  the  well- 
to  -  do  and  well  -  meaning  to  be  in 
possession  of  stolen  property.  The 
fact  of  its  turning  up  again  under  the 
General's  very  nose,  so  many  years 
later,  however,  that  is  unusual.  The 
case  will  appear  even  more  so  before 
the  day  is  over  if  I  am  right  in  one 
of  my  conjectures." 

What  Raffles  Holmes 's  conjecture 
was  was  soon  to  be  made  clear.  In 
a  few  minutes  we  had  reached  his 
apartment,  and  there  unlocking  a 
huge  iron-bound  chest  in  his  bed 
room,  he  produced  from  its  capacious 
223 


R.   Holmes   &   Co. 

depths  another  gold  pepper-pot.  This 
he  handed  to  me. 

"There's  the  mate!"  he  observed, 
quietly. 

"By  Jove,  Raffles — it  must  be!"  I 
cried,  for  beyond  all  question,  in  the 
woof  of  the  design  on  the  base  of  the 
pepper-pot  was  the  cipher  "  A.  R.  to 
C.  C."  "Where  the  dickens  did  you 
get  it?" 

"That  was  a  wedding  -  present  to 
my  mother,"  he  explained.  "That's 
why  I  have  never  sold  it,  not  even 
when  I've  been  on  the  edge  of  starva 
tion." 

"From  whom — do  you  happen  to 
know?"  I  inquired. 

"Yes,"  he  replied.  "I  do  know. 
It  was  a  wedding  -  present  to  the 
daughter  of  Raffles  by  her  father,  my 
grandfather,  Raffles  himself." 

"  Great  Heavens !"  I  cried.  "  Then 
it  was  Raffles  who — well,  you  know. 
That  London  flat  job?" 

"Precisely,"  said  Raffles  Holmes. 
224 


The    Pepper-pots 

"We've  caught  the  old  gentleman 
red-handed." 

"Well,  I'll  be  jiggered!"  said  I. 
"Doesn't  it  beat  creation  how  small 
the  world  is." 

"  It  does  indeed.  I  wonder  who 
the  chap  is  who  has  the  other," 
Raffles  observed. 

"Pretty  square  of  the  old  General 
to  keep  quiet  about  it,"  said  I. 

"  Yes,"  said  Holmes.  "  That's  why 
I'm  going  to  restore  this  one.  I  wish 
I  could  give  'em  both  back.  I  don't 
think  my  old  grandfather  would 
have  taken  the  stuff  if  he'd  known 
what  a  dead -game  sport  the  old 
General  was,  and  I  sort  of  feel  my 
self  under  an  obligation  to  make 
amends." 

"  You  can  send  him  the  one  you've 
got  through  the  express  companies, 
anonymously,"  said  I. 

"No,"  said  Holmes.  "The  Gen 
eral  left  them  on  his  sideboard,  and 
on  his  sideboard  he  must  find  them. 
225 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

If  we  could  only  find  out  the  name 
of  his  host  last  Thursday— 

"  I  tell  you — look  in  the  Sunday 
Gazoo  supplement,"  said  I.  "They 
frequently  publish  short  paragraphs 
of  the  social  doings  of  the  week.  You 
might  get  a  clew  there." 

"Good  idea,"  said  Holmes.  "I 
happen  to  have  it  here,  too.  There 
was  an  article  in  it  last  Sunday,  giv 
ing  a  diagram  of  Howard  Vander- 
gould's  new  house  at  Nippon's  Point, 
Long  Island,  which  I  meant  to  cut 
out  for  future  reference." 

Holmes  secured  the  Gazoo,  and  be 
tween  us,  we  made  a  pretty  thorough 
search  of  its  contents,  especially 
"The  Doings  of  Society"  columns, 
and  at  last  we  found  it,  as  follows : 

"A  small  dinner  of  thirty  was  given  on 
Thursday  evening  last  in  honor  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Wilbur  Rattington,  of  Boston, 
by  Mrs.  Rattington's  brother,  John  D. 
Bruce,  of  Bruce,  Watkins  &  Co.,  at  the 
latter's  residence,  74 —  Fifth  Avenue. 
226 


The    Pepper-pots 

Among  Mr.  Bruce's  guests  were  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  W.  K.  Danderveldt,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Elisha  Scroog,  Jr.,  Major-General  Carring- 
ton  Cox,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henderson  Scovill, 
and  Signor  Caruso." 

"Old  Bruce,  eh?"  laughed  Holmes. 
"Sans  peur  et  sans  reproche.  Well, 
that  is  interesting.  One  of  the  few 
honest  railroad  bankers  in  the  coun 
try,  a  pillar  of  the  church,  a  leading 
reformer  and — a  stolen  pepper-pot  on 
his  table!  Gee!" 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  now?" 
I  asked.  "Write  to  Bruce  and  tell 
him  the  facts?" 

Holmes's  answer  was  a  glance. 

"Oh  cream-cakes!"  he  ejaculated, 
with  profane  emphasis. 

A  week  after  the  incidents  just 
described  he  walked  into  my  room 
with  a  small  package  under  his 
arm. 

"There's  the  pair!"  he  observed, 
unwrapping  the  parcel  and  displaying 
its  contents — two  superb,  golden  pep- 
16  227 


R.   Holmes    &    Co. 

per-pots,  both  inscribed  "A.  R.  to 
C.  C."  "  Beauties,  aren't  they?" 

"They  are,  indeed.  Did  Bruce 
give  it  up  willingly?"  I  asked. 

"He  never  said  a  word,"  laughed 
Holmes.  "  Fact  is,  he  snored  all  the 
time  I  was  there." 

"Snored?"  said  I. 

"Yes — you  see,  it  was  at  3.30  this 
morning,"  said  Holmes,  "and  I  went 
in  the  back  way.  Climbed  up  to  the 
extension  roof,  in  through  Bruce's 
bedroom  window,  down-stairs  to  the 
dining-room,  while  Bruce  slept  un 
conscious  of  my  arrival.  The  house 
next  to  his  is  vacant,  you  know,  and 
it  was  easy  travelling." 

"You — you—  "  I  began. 

"Yes— that's  it,"  said  he.  "Just 
a  plain,  vulgar  bit  of  second  -  story 
business,  and  I  got  it.  There  were  a 
lot  of  other  good  things  lying  around," 
he  added,  with  a  gulp,  "but — well,  I 
was  righting  a  wrong  this  time,  so 
I  let  'em  alone,  and,  barring  this,  I 
228 


The    Pepper-pots 

didn't  deprive  old  Bruce  of  a  bloom 
ing  thing,  not  even  a  wink  of  sleep." 

"And  now  what?"  I  demanded. 

"It's  me  for  Cedar  hurst  —  that's 
where  the  General  lives,"  said  he. 
"I'll  get  there  about  11.30  to-night, 
and  as  soon  as  all  is  quiet,  Jenkins, 
your  old  pal,  Raffles  Holmes,  will 
climb  easily  up  to  the  piazza,  gently 
slide  back  the  bolts  of  the  French 
windows  in  the  General's  dining- 
room,  proceed  cautiously  to  the  side 
board,  and  replace  thereon  these  two 
souvenirs  of  a  brave  act  by  a  good 
old  sport,  whence  they  never  would 
have  been  taken  had  my  grandfather 
known  his  man." 

"You  are  taking  a  terrible  risk, 
Raffles,"  said  I,  "you  can  just  as 
easily  send  the  things  to  the  General 
by  express,  anonymously." 

"Jenkins,"  he  replied,  "that  sug 
gestion  does  you  little  credit  and 
appeals  neither  to  the  Raffles  nor  to 
the  Holmes  in  me.  Pusillanimity  was 
229 


R.   Holmes   &  Co. 

a  word  which  neither  of  my  forebears 
could  ever  learn  to  use.  It  was  too 
long,  for  one  thing,  and  besides  that  it 
was  never  needed  in  their  business." 
And  with  that  he  left  me. 

"Well,  General,"  said  I  to  General 
Cox,  a  week  later  at  the  club,  "  heard 
anything  further  about  your  pepper- 
pots  yet?" 

"Most    singular    thing,    Jenkins," 

said  he.     "  The  d d  things  turned 

up  again  one  morning  last  week,  and 
where  the  devil  they  came  from,  I 
can't  imagine.  One  of  them,  how 
ever,  had  a  piece  of  paper  in  it  on 
which  was  written  'Returned  with 
thanks  for  their  use  and  apologies  for 
having  kept  them  so  long.' ' 

The  General  opened  his  wallet  and 
handed  me  a  slip  which  he  took  from  it . 

"There  it  is.  What  in  thunder  do 
you  make  out  of  it?"  he  asked. 

It  was  in  Raffles  Holmes 's  hand 
writing. 

230- 


The    Pepper-pots 

"  Looks  to  me  as  though  Bruce 
also  had  been  robbed,"  I  laughed. 

"  Bruce?  Who  the  devil  said  any 
thing  about  Bruce?"  demanded  the 
General. 

"Why,  didn't  you  tell  us  he  had 
one  of  'em  on  his  table?"  said  I, 
reddening. 

"Did  I?"  frowned  the  General. 
"Well,  if  I  did,  I  must  be  a  con 
founded  ass.  I  thought  I  took  par 
ticular  pains  not  to  mention  Bruce's 
name  in  the  matter." 

And  then  he  laughed. 

"I  shall  have  to  be  careful  when 
Bruce  comes  to  dine  with  me  not  to 
have  those  pepper-pots  in  evidence," 
he  said.  "  He  might  ask  embarrass 
ing  questions." 

And  thus  it  was  that  Raffles  Holmes 
atoned  for  at  least  one  of  the  offences 
of  his  illustrious  grandsire. 


THE     END 


FOURTEEN  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


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LOAN  UEPT. 


— 


19 


LD  21-100m-2,'55 
(B139s22)476 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


M506264 


